MS OF TH' 
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COPifRIGHT DEPOSm 



EDUCATIONAL METHODS 

College Study and College Life. By 
Bernard C. Etver. 

American Education. By Sidney G. 
Fisher. 

The Philosophical Basis of Educa- 
tion. By Rolland Merritt Shreves. 

The Privilege of Education. By 
George L. Jackson. 

The Rural School and the Commu- 
nity. By Howard T. Leivis. 

Some Fundamental Verities in Edu- 
cation. By Maximilian P. E. Grosz- 
ma?in. 

The School System of Norway, ^y 
David Allen Anderson. 

Education Among the Jews. By Paul 
E. Kretzmann. 

Public Education in Germany and in 
the United States. By L. R. Klemm. 

Problems of the Secondary Teacher. 
By William Jerusalem. Translated by 
Charles F. Sanders. 



RICHARD G. badger, PUBLISHER, BOSTON 



PROBLEMS OF THE 
SECONDARY TEACHER 



By 

WILLIAM JfERUSALEM, Ph.D. 

Professor of Education, Uni<versity of Vienna 



Authorized Translation by 

CHARLES F. SANDERS 

Professor of Philosophy and Education, 
Pennsylvania College, Gettysburg, Pa. 




BOSTON 
RICHARD G. BADGER 

THE GORHAM PRESS 



) 



Copyright, 1918, by Richard G. Badger 



All Rights Reserved 






DEC 30 i9l8 

Made in the United States of America 



The Gorham Press, Boston^ U.S.A. 



CLASlJiJi) 







\A^ 



PREFACE 

The problems of education take their character from the na- 
ture of man. The ideals of civilization, the social results of 
the achievements in any age, the impulse tovi^ards adventure 
and the undertaking of advance or reform, all issue somehow 
out of the nature of man. And in its fundamental aspects 
this nature is very much the same the w^orld over. When we 
note the differences of peoples and nations we find that we are 
dwelling on things they " have put on for the occasion." We 
are not yet at the bottom. Much of our philosophy, religion 
and education has been satisfied to build without going to this 
real foundation, the bedrock of human nature. 

The market is flooded with pedagogic literature. It seems 
well-nigh a fad. There seem.s to be good sense in the de- 
mand that one should have some good reason for offering a 
new book in this field. My reason for offering this book in 
English dress is its splendid success in the effort to furnish 
insight into the rich problem.s of the Secondary School from 
the profound viewpoint of the fundamentals of human nature 
and of human society. 

Jerusalem has cultivated the fields of philosophy, psychol- 
ogy and sociology and it is these that are peculiarly essential 
to an undertaking of the problems of pedagogy. He has 
learned much from Spencer in sociology, from Royce in philos- 
ophy and from James in psycholog)^ In the treatment of his 
problems he has dealt with an earnest frankness with every- 
thing, with the result that we have a book that must appeal 
to everyone who really cares for the advancement of the race 
and has anything like confidence that the school can be made 
an effective agent in effecting such advance. 

In making the translation we have eliminated such portions 
of the book as would have little or no interest outside Aus- 
tria. The translation is made from the second edition of the 
orignal. The following from the author's Preface will tell 
the story of the book: 

5 



6 Preface 

In respect to subject matter my book bears an intimate re- 
lation to the Practical Pedagogics of Adolf Matthias and 
the Spirit of the Teacher of William Muench. Both men 
are in position to speak to teachers as from a higher platform 
and hence have a right to admonish, to suggest, and to im- 
pose a duty. They understand well how to take the view- 
point of the teacher, but they themselves are nevertheless no 
longer on that level. In this respect my position is entirely 
different. I have never been a Director nor an Inspector. 
Furthermore, during the twenty years of my professional life I 
have never risen beyond the position of Privatdozent. I, 
therefore, have neither the right nor the obligation, and least 
of all the inclination, to speak from above. I come as a 
teacher to address myself to my present and future colleagues 
with a view to impressing upon them the tremendous social 
significance of our school and of our profession. My most 
serious concern is to energize the teacher subjectively, to give 
new impulses to his ambition and in this way, which I regard 
the only possible and effective one, to contribute to the reform 
of our advanced school system for which there is such a cry- 
ing need. But the first requirement to this end is the demand 
for uncompromising frankness. We must neither cover up 
nor apologize for the failures and weaknesses of which we 
teachers are so frequently guilty. I have touched upon a 
number of very tender spots and am prepared to expect that 
the painful touch will meet with some bitter resentment and 
some complaisant denial. I have spoken without equivoca- 
tion on both the actual short-comings of our High School or- 
ganization as well as the failures of our Boards of Instruc- 
tion. And I have likewise spoken many plain truths to the 
parents of our pupils. But I have done all this solely from 
my interest in the great social service to which my book is de- 
voted. My criticism is never merely negative. I have no 
desire to destroy, but rather to build anew from within. I 
have constantly directed my efforts towards the positive and 
the concrete. It is just in the very act of trying to give the 
vital energies of the teaching profession the direction which 
leads towards higher achievements that the errors which lead 
elsewhere are exposed automatically. As Spinoza has put it, 
the truth must illuminate both itself and error. 

The sociological method of interpretation which I have 



Preface 7 

applied to our schools and their teachers may indeed appear 
new and unfamiliar to many of my colleagues. Sociology is 
still a new science and it is not yet in position to direct atten- 
tion to an abundance of positive results. But as a method of 
interpretation it has justified itself in splendid fashion. In 
the investigation of the concept of general education it has been 
very fruitful. The ethical problems of the teacher are like- 
wise brought into a new light by consideration from this point 
of view. We must constantly strive for a clearer conception 
of the social function of our high schools. It is only from 
this point of view that we can at present come to a correct 
understanding and evaluation of the insistent demands for 
far-reaching individualization and for the intensive develop- 
ment of personality. It is on this account that my book ap- 
plies not only to specialists in the narrower sense. It is pre- 
cisely among these that many of my suggestions will still meet 
with opposition, especially, for example, my effort at the re- 
organization of the curriculum and my requirements m refer- 
ence to the pedagogical training of teachers. But if educated 
society will concern itself more than it has hitherto about the 
social problem of the secondary school with a view to attain- 
ing a clear understanding both of its importance and its unique 
position, many will certainly learn to see that the existing 
evils can never be overcome by mieans of superficial reforms, 
such for example as by a more strict supervision, or by a 
gradual reduction of the material of instruction, or by eliminat- 
ing written exercises, or by the free elective system in the 
advanced classes. The state and society will then perhaps 
think through to the conviction that the clearly recognised 
aim or purpose of the secondary school can be attained only 
by means of a thoroughgoing internal reconstruction. Internal 
reconstruction, however, is possible only if the vital energies 
of the teachers and schools are aroused, disciplined, and di- 
rected upon the course which brings us closer to these aims. 
I may perhaps, therefore, be permitted to hope that I will 
find sympathizers among the large class of the educated in 
every calling, who will agree to an early introduction of my 
requirements and a much more thorough pedagogic prepara- 
tion of teachers. The future generation of teachers, however, 
will soon likewise gratefully recognise the advantages of such 
a training themselves. 



8 Preface 

Finally, permit me to emphasize once more that this essay- 
is a personal work, an expression that issues from the depth of 
my own heart. It is as such that I send it forth into the world 
with the epigrammatic blessing of Grillparzer's lines: 

Wer viel verschenken will, ob Fuerst auch oder Koenig, 
Mehr als sich selbst gab keiner noch, der war. 
Hier nimm mich selbst, und selber bring ichs dar. 
Dein Herz eiitscheide nun, obs viel ist oder wenig. 

(Of all who have rich blessings shed, whether prince or king, 
None that ever lived more than himself has given. 
Here, take my very self, 'tis I who offer thee. 
Then let your own heart decide, whether it be much or little.) 

C. F. Sanders. 
Gettysburg, Pa., 
July 27, 1918. 



CONTENTS 

CHAPTER PAGE 

I The Secondary Teacher 7 

1 Our Vocation 7 

2 The Synthesis of Science and Pedagogy 10 

3 Synthesis of Officer and Teacher 17 

II The Character and the Problem of the Secondary School 27 

1 The General Character of the Secondary School ... 27 

2 The Conception of General Education 28 

A General Education in the Sociological Sense ... 30 

B The Encyclopedic Theory 35 

C The Biologico-Psychological Theory of General Ed- 
ucation 41 

3 The Theory of General Education 59 

4 The Aim of the Secondary School 77 

5 The Course of Study in the Secondary School .... 83 

III The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teachers . . 91 

1 The General Problem 91 

2 The Special Groups loi 

A Philology loi 

B Mathematics and the Natural Sciences . . . .118 

IV Didactics 122 

1 General Principles of Method 122 

2 Awakening Interest as a Principle of Instruction . . . 126 

3 Interest as a Pedagogic Principle. Its Practical Signifi- 

cance and Application 131 

4 The Principle of Training to Work 140 

5 The Authority of the Teacher 144 

V Ethical and Social Problems 161 

1 The Ethical Factor in the Secondary School 161 

2 Personal Duty and Personal Dignity 165 

3 The Social Spirit in School 177 

4 The Cultivation of Personal Dignity 193 

5 Discipline, Instruction in Morals 212 

6 The Teacher and Society 218 

7 The Pedagogic Preparation of the Teacher .... 226 

Conclusion 238 

Index 245 

9 



PROBLEMS OF THE 
SECONDARY TEACHER 



PROBLEMS OF THE 
SECONDARY TEACHER 



CHAPTER I 

THE SECONDARY TEACHER 

I. Our Vocation 

THE teacher's vocation is unique. It is full of difficulty 
and it is charged with the highest responsibilities. The 
demands made upon him by official boards, parents, and more 
particularly by the pupils are boundless. But the obligations 
which the conscientious teacher imposes upon himself — he 
should at least — are of vastly greater consequence. Of the 
multitudes of young people expecting to teach in our secondary 
schools after graduation from college, but a very few have any- 
thing like a clear conception of the responsibilities involved. 
And even those of us who are in the active service, after having 
entered upon our difficult task, rarely find time, leisure and 
concentration, to reflect upon ourselves. It seems to me that 
the vague, uncertain and consequent unsatisfactory position of 
the secondary teacher at present is chiefly due to this lack of 
clearness concerning our duties, the utter failure to appreciate 
the social function of the secondary school and the teacher of 
the secondary school. 

We are scientifically trained and we are, generally speaking, 
interested in science and accordingly we strive to keep in touch 
with the representatives of science, the University professors. 
We are teachers, we feel the need of discussion on method and 
the art of teaching and we occasionally visit the educational 
association conventions held by the teachers of the public 
schools. 



S Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

We come under criticism from various angles. The educa- 
tional authorities on the one hand are critical from the view- 
point of the organized state, and society at large on the other 
is apt to approach us from a more individualistic point of 
view. Short-comings are as variously ascribed to tradition, to 
social conditions, or even to malignity, both on the part of the 
parents or the official boards. And we look for improvement 
of the conditions. But it seems to me that external remedies 
will not relieve the situation. It must proceed from within 
ourselves. It becomes imperative, therefore, that we apply 
ourselves diligently to self-study. We must first of all raise 
the very serious question whether we have reflected with 
sufficient seriousness on what we are and what we ought to be. 
Do we really have a clear conception of the nature and pur- 
pose of the secondary school in which we are engaged? Have 
we ever been fully conscious of all the problems which confront 
the secondary teacher? Do we understand the tremendously 
important social function which the secondary school, together 
with its teachers, is called upon and obliged to exercise in the 
social organization? I fear the most of us would not pass this 
self-examination, which seems to me indispensable to a proper 
appreciation of the purpose and dignity of the profession. The 
point at issue here is to show that we are really and truly 
teachers. We must announce the results of each examination 
clearly, with inexorable truthfulness and without regard for 
personal feelings, which in this case means ourselves. Whoever 
approaches the examination poorly prepared must fail. We 
require the courage therefore to permit ourselves at least for 
once in our lives to fail at our own hands and be required to 
repeat. This will mean severe application in order that we 
may make up quickly and thoroughly what has been neglected. 

I am rash enough to offer myself as a preceptor for the 
preparation for renewed self-examination. I offer the results 
of my experiences gathered from the practical life of a peda- 
gogue, covering a period of thirty years, and latterly as in- 
structor of pedagogy, together with my conclusions drawn from 
the study of psychology and sociology. I shall endeavor in the 
following pages to explain the nature and purpose of the sec- 
ondary school more clearly, as it seems to me, than has hitherto 
been done. I shall discuss the scientific, the pedagogic-didactic 



The Secondary Teacher 9 

and the social-ethical duties of the secondary teacher and thus 
be in a position not only to offer general principles to pros- 
pective teachers and to teachers with limited experience, who 
may care to make use of it, but likewise to give many prac- 
tical suggestions directly applicable to the real work of the 
school. But my deepest concern in this whole matter is to show 
my present and future vocational colleagues that the secondary 
teacher possesses a field of influence at once profound and ex- 
tensive, his exclusive possession, without any other occupants 
and beyond the possibility of any counter claimants, which fur- 
nishes the opportunity for personal development wholly unique 
and at the same time satisfying the highest ambitions. The 
secondary school has its own specific problems which are clearly 
definable and hence requires specially prepared teachers who 
understand its problems and devote themselves to their high 
social task. We have at least no need to obtrude ourselves upon 
anyone either above, below, or in any way beyond our circle. 
The association with our pupils and with our colleagues and 
the constant, quiet application to a fuller development of our 
own personality, furnishes us abundant satisfaction. We must 
first of all get a correct estimate of ourselves, we need to know 
exactly what we are and regulate our conduct, our life, ac- 
cordingly. The more thoroughly we master this problem of 
self-knowledge and autonomous self-estimation, the more rapidly 
will we attain the respect among all classes of people, which 
corresponds to our high calling. 

The mental task for which I am anxious to enlist my pres- 
ent, and more especially my future vocational colleagues is by 
no means easy nor insignificant. The first requirement is a 
definite, strong determination, a vigorous spiritual backbone, 
which will force us out of the customary ways of thinking and, 
more particularly, the customary thoughtlessness. As soon as 
we are thoroughly initiated to the new mental vision it will be 
necessary to review carefully and thoroughly the whole field of 
our preparation and of our vocational activity from this new 
viewpoint. The university courses already completed or still 
in prospect of completion, the further scientific education for the 
purpose of fixing and of extending knowledge, the preparation 
for teaching, the management of pupils, methods, the relation 
to school boards and to colleagues, to parents and to the gen- 



lO Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

eral public, will all appear in a new light. We will then 
recognize clearly wherein the university fails by virtue of its 
regulations and wherein we have permitted it to fail by our 
own mistakes. The things we have learned there that seemed 
superfluous will then no longer appear superfluous, but as 
" superflu, chose tres necessaire." We will then be able to fill 
in the gaps which remain with genuine interest and undoubted 
gain. Once we are fully imbued with the great problem of our 
vocation, the conviction follows, that our purpose can be re- 
alized only by the slow, steady, consciously directed, daily oc- 
cupation with small tasks and that on this account the things 
in our work which seem insignificant become important. The 
reproach of pedantry so often brought against school teachers 
will then appear in a new light and we will no longer regard 
it as a serious reproach. 

2. The Synthesis of Science and Pedagogy 

The first synthesis to be effected is that between the scholar 
and the teacher, or as I prefer to express it, between science and 
pedagogy. During the first half of the nineteenth century, 
when, especially in Prussia, but in other parts of Germany as 
well, the new-humanistic gymnasium founded under the auspices 
of Goethe and Herder and especially Fr. Aug. Wolf, the opin- 
ion generally prevailed that a strictly scientific education is quite 
sufficient for the gymnasial teacher. The school teachers of 
those days were all classsical philologists and they were par- 
ticularly disdainful of pedagogy. And the educational con- 
sistory of Prussia likewise placed the greatest, almost exclusive, 
emphasis on the scientific, i. e., philological, education of teachers. 
Paulsen's History of Higher Education furnishes abundant 
proof of the prevalence of these views, and he constantly refers 
to the sources with great care. I quote several characteristic 
passages. Paulsen describes (vol. II, 269 ff) the development 
of the philosophical faculties in the nineteenth century and the 
Seminaries founded during the same period : " The philological 
Seminaries are the oldest institutions of this kind. Founded 
originally for the purpose of furnishing a thorough prepara- 
tion for the teaching profession, during the nineteenth century 
they became places of scientific research pure and simple." 



The Secondary Teacher 1 1 

" The Institute completely devoted to the education of schol- 
ars; the actual future vocation of the majority of the mem- 
bers, that of teaching, as such, receives no consideration what- 
ever." (270) '' Later statutes (e.g. Halle, 1857, Miinster, 
1854) make express mention of the fact that they likewise give 
special attention to the preparation of teachers for the higher 
schools, but not indeed in the way of guidance in acquiring the 
art of teaching, but simply through furnishing a scientific train- 
ing. These statutes do not provide, according to Wiese (Hist. 
Statis. Darst. I. 525) for the teaching of pedagogy, but that 
instruction shall be given to independent application and ad- 
vancement of science. It is presumed that a thorough pursuit of 
scientific studies is at the same time a training in method, that 
systematically acquired science likewise enables a methodical 
application, whilst methods without any deeper comprehension 
of the subject-matter soon become an empty, mechanical 
routine." (271) '* It is indeed a noteworthy fact that the 
pedagogical enthusiasm of the eighteenth century was almost 
wholly extinguished by the scientific enthusiasm of the nine- 
teenth century. Especially were the philologists outspoken in 
their contempt for pedagogy. Be enthusiastic and understand 
how to inspire enthusiasm, was the principle which gave 
rise to the whole pedagogy of Wolf. Ritschl thinks that teach- 
ing will come naturally to anyone who has the knowledge. 
And the youthful Lehrs, even while under appointment at a 
Konigsberg Gymnasium, in the customary biographic sketches 
introduced into the program of the institution, could not re- 
frain from deliverances like the following : ' This conviction 
preserved me (notwithstanding the fact that the life of an edu- 
cator was constantly hovering before my mind) from the di- 
gression, temptations to which were at that time not wanting, 
of dissipating and wasting my time with the study of pedagogy, 
as they call it. Furthermore; for anyone to set limits to his 
science, to wish to master it for the sake of an immediate and 
pressing need, savors of the calculation of the trader, and the 
attempt to learn how to deal with men from a text book in 
psychology is childish.' " (253.) Principal Spilleke describes 
the slight esteem into which pedagogy had fallen among the 
philological governors of the schools as follows : " It is a most 
remarkable phenomenon that inasmuch as the elementary school 



12 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

organization has during the past thirty years shown extraor- 
dinary progress in matters of didactics and method and has 
trained a generation of teachers who deserve admiration for 
their ability to inspire the masses by their pedagogic skill and 
by their general adaptability, the Gymnasia have nevertheless 
taken no notice whatever, or at least very little, of the great 
changes taking place in the pedagogical world. A gymnasial 
teacher who had so far departed from the way as to read a book 
on pedagogy or to manifest an interest in the subject had almost 
to be ashamed in the presence of his colleagues and fear being 
regarded a poor schoolmaster deserving pity. Not a few of 
the gymnasial teachers hold it as a fundamental principle that 
a man can teach any subject in which he has been instructed. 
Baumeister, who quotes this passage in the introduction to his 
Handbook of Pedagogy j adds: ' One might almost think they 
had only recently been written.' " (276) 

This onesided and almost exclusive concern for the scientific 
training of the gymnasial teacher has, at least in Germany 
during the first two-thirds of the nineteenth century, had a very 
wholesome result for our profession. It has enhanced the 
respect for the profession in an extraordinary manner. Paulsen 
describes this with his customary clearness and vividness (II, 
387 ff. Esp 389). And it follows from this that we are obliged 
to insist with all emphasis and zeal that the scientific training 
of the secondary teacher must not be neglected or supplanted 
by any means. Our authority and our social position, as history 
shows, rests on our scientific training. The results of our 
instruction depend above all else upon our scientific efficiency, 
and the introductory ordinance of the second edition of the 
"Instructions"^ is perfectly right in saying: "The art of 
teaching, in so far as an art can be acquired, can, at least in the 
sphere of education to which these instructions apply, be ac- 
quired only under the presupposition that the teacher is com- 
plete master of his subject matter, in constant touch with the 
advances made by science and continually draws thence re- 
newed strength and love for his arduous calling." 

It is impossible therefore to emphasize too strongly or too 
frequently that scientific efficiency is the vital source and sole 
justification of our profession. But we must nevertheless in- 

1 Courses and Directions for Teaching in the Gymnasia of Austria, 



The Secondary Teacher 13 

sist just as clearly and just as decidedly that the ability for 
scientific research, the thorough mastery of the methods and prin- 
ciples of science, the restriction to a limited field, indispensable 
to the scholar, are uttterly inadequate to a correct comprehen- 
sion and the solution of the problems of the secondary school and 
of the secondary teacher. We must not only learn to under- 
stand and love science, but likewise our pupils. It is our busi- 
ness to quicken the mental powers of our pupils which ripen 
the desire and the ability to give a scientific account of their 
environment. But in order to do this it is necessary that we 
prepare ourselves thoroughly and at the proper time. Moreover 
the science and the art of education and instruction are not the 
mere inventions of yesterday. Great minds have reflected 
upon these problems for several thousand j^ears, and it is there- 
fore a false procedure to direct the young teacher to begin at 
the beginning with these matters and draw everything from 
his own resources. At the beginning of the first Olympic ora- 
tion Demosthenes speaks of two kinds of orators. The one 
come well prepared (xpr/o-t/xov laKefxiiivov) and present their 
plan systematically. The others depend on inspiration and 
speak from the stirrup {Ik rov TrapaxprjfJ^a) . They have 
hitherto for too long a time imposed the frequently very 
painful position of the stirrup-teacher upon us and left us 
to ourselves to adjust to the schools. I still remember quite 
vividly with what feeling of trepidation I entered the class-room 
as teacher for the first time more than thirty years ago. But 
in the course of recent decades there has been an increasing de- 
mand from the widest variety of vievv^-points that the secondary 
school teacher should likewise be pedagogically prepared for 
his calling. 

The things which have been attempted and accomplished in 
this line, the probationarj^ year, the university and school- 
seminars, the so-called further probationary years and ever}^- 
thing pertaining to these matters are carefully compiled and 
discussed in the important volume by William Fries, The 
Preparation of the Teacher for His Office. (Bau?neisters 
Handbook J vol. 2, first division B.) No arrangement meeting 
all the requirements has as yet been found, and we v/ili doubt- 
less still have to expend much labor and reflection in order to 
meet the needs of the time in this respect. We shall have 



14 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

occasion to return to this point later. But we must observe 
this one thing in passing, namely, that in recent years the peda- 
gogical preparation of the secondary teacher has been empha- 
sized almost as onesidedly as was previously the case with the 
scientific preparation. Unfortunately it cannot be denied that 
there has been a marked decline in the scientific efficiency of the 
secondary school teachers during recent decades. Whether this 
fact can be adequately explained by the somewhat deeper in- 
terest in problems of method and didactics, I do not care to 
decide at present. One thing is nevertheless certain, namely, 
that at least with us in Austria the scientific regression has not 
enhanced the respect for our profession. 

We must therefore never state the question alternatively, 
whether science or pedagogy is our chief concern. We must 
realize the synthesis emphasized above, the vital blending of 
the scholar and the teacher in us. We need scientific educa- 
tion most unqualifiedly. We must learn to understand the 
work of the investigator, since we are to participate in it. We 
must proceed far enough to be able alwa5^s to be above the text 
books. We must — and this is the essence of the desired syn- 
thesis — we must press forward to the conception that for us 
science is not an end in itself j but that it is only a means. Our 
end, our life's problem is the school. Inasmuch as we devote 
our whole energy to it, we have the best and surest opportunity 
to develop ourselves to complete, consciously purposeful, inde- 
pendent personalities. Here every slumbering energy is de- 
veloped, here we must find our joys and satisfactions. All that 
w^e are and all that we are able to do belongs to the school. 
And for this reason too science is not an end for us, but a 
means. 

This is in no sense a depreciation of science. It is not a 
matter of alternatives between the " heavenly goddess " and 
the " milking cow." In the light of modern psychology and 
sociology this conception can no longer be maintained. All 
the sciences owe their origin to practical needs, and the highest 
aim of human endeavor must forever consist of the effort to 
make the life of the individual and of the human race richer, 
more complete and happier. Whenever therefore v/e use sci- 
ence for the purpose of inspiring and educating the minds of 
our pupils, whenever we impart to them the necessary equip- 



The Secondary Teacher 15 

ment for life by means of furnishing them with facts and by- 
habituating them to individual effort, it is then that we have 
applied science to that which by its real nature it is intended, 
the advancement of life. 

If the secondary school teacher is at the same time able to 
engage in independent research work, it will be of advantage 
to him in his vocation, as we shall show farther on, and he 
will thus likewise contribute to the elevation of the dignity of 
the profession. However, if he has fully realized the desired 
synthesis, he will understand that his whole effort must never- 
theless be devoted to the school and science be only a pastime. 
He will not forget the teacher for the scholar, not neglect or 
indeed despise, but know that he must likewise cultivate and 
foster those phases of his science which do not appeal to him as 
an investigator, wherever the school requires it. Whoever, like 
myself for example, who as a teacher of the classical languages 
and philosophical propadeutic, applies himself scientifically to 
psychology and philosophy, must at the same time be concerned 
about Latin style, German orthography, Greek meter and like- 
wise be at home in Roman politics as well as in the Homeric 
problems and in the Attic system of legal procedure. As 
teachers we cannot by any means limit ourselves to a brief time 
period as the scholar is bound to do. 

This synthesis of science and pedagogy is an unqualified re- 
quirement for the secondary teacher. The sooner and the 
more completely we give ourselves this, — perhaps somewhat 
painful for many, — mental jolt, the better it will be for us. 
Whoever is so fortunate as to gain this insight while still at the 
university, will get great advantage from it In pursuing his 
studies. He will guard against undertaking scientific Investi- 
gations which will confine him for a number of years to a small 
part of his subject. He will rather seek themes which will 
furnish an opportunity to become acquainted with broader 
fields and furnish him with a comprehensive view. The classi- 
cal philologist, who has rightly conceived his future vocation, 
will thus, for example, prefer investigations which will require 
him to study extensively Homer, the Tragedians or Plato, 
Thucydldes, Demosthenes and the other orators, or those which 
furnish an Intimate acquaintance with Virgil, Horace, Cicero, 
Tacitus or Livy. The historian will then scarcely devote six 



1 6 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

or eight semesters exclusively to the late Roman emperors. He 
will rather institute a limited investigation to the Pentekontatie, 
and afterwards another to the period of the Gracchii, and then 
again devote himself to the Hohenstaufen emperor Frederick II 
and undertake an essay on the period of Wallenstein and 
Napoleon. 

But it will do no harm if this synthesis is realized first by 
the young teacher. The work of the school will show him 
best, what is still lacking in his training. If the university has 
given him the ability to work systematically; it will not be 
difficult for him to fill in the gaps gradually and to combine 
breadth with thoroughness. We will have occasion to illustrate 
this synthesis by examples at greater length when we come to 
discuss the duties of the secondary teacher. Here it is of 
primary importance to show that the only way we can prop- 
erly conceive and discharge our vocation is under the clear 
conviction that we must put science into the service of the 
school. Whoever is filled with this conception will soon begin 
of his own accord to be interested in general principles of edu- 
cation and instruction as well as in the special methods of his 
subject. He will desire to be a teacher and educator, not a 
scholar and an investigator, and it is this desire that appears 
to me to be the important matter. Our calling verifies the old 
English proverb, where there is a will, there is a way, very 
uniquely. Whoever seeks earnestly will certainly find a way, 
and moreover, the way that is adapted to his own individuality. 
There are now an abundance of guides, so that everyone can 
select such as suits his purpose. 

We find at present that the personality of the teacher receives 
more emphasis than formerly and rightly so. We have come to 
see that the best course and the best teaching art become effective 
only as they become vital forces through the personality of the 
teacher. But we are not always clear as to the nature and 
growth of personality. We frequently speak of individuality 
and personality and mean nothing more than an unorganized 
bundle of impulses, phantasms, passions, whims, peculiarities and 
bad habits. But whoever understands the development of man- 
kind, whoever clearly conceives the significance of the process of 
differentiation in the civilization of man, must conclude that the 
individual can become a really complete and forceful personality 



The Secondary Teacher 17 

only as he discovers some great fact of social importance to which 
he devotes himself and in which he is completely absorbed by his 
own resolve and volition. Josiah Royce, the American philoso- 
pher, brought this out very forcefully in his excellent book, The 
Philosophy of Loyalty, and it seems to me significant that 
this idea is reaching wider circles. Our calling is certainly an 
important one, of high social significance. Anyone who fully 
devotes himself to these matters will find abundant opportunity 
to unfold his individuality and to develop a forceful, complete 
personality. Devotion to these great matters quickens every 
hidden force, we recognize our strength and our weakness. 
Goethe observes, ^'Peculiarities will indeed remain, cultivate 
your capacities.^' The teacher who would struggle upwards to 
personality will follow this striking suggestion. He will have 
his peculiarities like everyone else, but that does no harm. He 
will however not find the essence of personality in these pe- 
culiarities, but in the deeper attributes of the soul which attain 
their complete development in vocational activity. Personality 
thus matured and refined is the only one that possesses the force 
which will really aifect the pupils. But it has thereby likewise 
acquired the right to be obeyed and respected. Anyone who has 
made of himself such a personality as this will arrange his own 
methods and discover the path to a pedagogy adapted to his 
needs. The beginning of this path however will always lead 
through science, through strict science which demands the whole 
man. We must adhere to this unflinchingly. It is the source 
of our power and of our distinction. 

3. Synthesis of Officer and Teacher 

The synthesis of science and pedagogy is therefore the first 
fundamental requirement which every secondary teacher must 
impose upon himself. The fact that the secondary teacher is 
in a position to develop himself into an independent and ener- 
getic, professionally conscious, personality is likewise one of the 
most important conditions to this end. The second synthesis 
which we propose, the harmonious blending of the officer and the 
teacher which each of us is expected to realize in his own per- 
son, tends to produc". the same effect. 

The secondary teacher is at present an officer of the state. 



1 8 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

He is in the direct or indirect service of the state from which 
follows, as the inevitable consequence of this relation, the 
duty of subjection and the duty of integration. Miinch has 
elaborated this point very thoroughly in his splendid book on 
The Spirit of the Teacher s Office, and Matthias likewise 
takes occasion to discuss it in his excellent Practical Pedagogy^ 
As public officers it is unquestionably our duty to adapt our- 
selves to the instructions of the authorities especially in so far 
as they affect the external conduct of the business of the school. 
We must teach the branches which are referred to us, we 
must observe the time periods strictly, conduct the oversight in 
church and in the corridors of the school buildings, we must 
see to it that the written exercises are done in the prescribed 
number and in the prescribed time, we must correct and return 
them at the proper time, we are obliged to recognize and fol- 
low the orders of the authorities, we must also do the writing 
connected with the granting of certificates and with the con- 
ferences, in short, there are many things and many times in 
which we must obey. 

No honest teacher would care to deny that the discharge of 
his official duties, especially as far as they pertain to external 
matters have frequently become burdensome, exceedingly bur- 
densome and oppressive. The psychological ground of this 
feeling however is not generally due to laziness or over-sensi- 
tiveness. It lies much deeper. We are in fact not merely 
public officers, we are above all else teachers and that is what 
we are intended to be. But then our actual vocational activity 
is so arranged as to contradict the duty of subjection imposed 
on the public officer. 

In his classes the teacher is the superior, the leader. The 
function of the teacher consists in guiding, in leading. It is 
his duty to direct and to command. The interests of educa- 
tion and discipline, that is to say the interests of the matter of 
our service, requires us to insist upon the pupils complying 
with our rules and regulations. We must decide how and with 
what the pupils are to be occupied at a given time, we must 
assign what is to be prepared and studied for the next period, 
we must criticise the work of the pupils, in short, in the per- 
formance of our actual vocational duties we feel entirely inde- 
pendent and responsible. This independence is not merely our 



The Secondary Teacher 19 

privilege, but in a far higher degree our duty. We must bring 
our whole personality to bear on our pupils in order to in- 
fluence them, which is possible only when the feeling of the 
unrestrained exercise of our powers is not constantly curbed 
by the embarrassing fear of interference on the part of higher 
authorities. 

If the teacher is therefore accustomed to proceed freely and 
independently in his class room in proportion as he has fully 
identified himself with the responsibilities of the position of 
leader, it cannot but be difficult for him, outside the school, 
especially in the presence of the Board instantly to become the 
submissive servant with the restricted prerogatives of an under- 
ling. This profound contradiction which attaches to our call- 
ing is frequently the source of the strong dissatisfaction unfor- 
tunately found so often among secondaiy teachers. The cause 
lies in the fact that a vigorous, courageous, genuinely established 
professional consciousness cannot properly develop under such 
conditions. If the officer in us gains the mastery over the 
teacher, then the class room is no longer our chief concern. It 
seems to be more important for progress and advancement, that 
we rots ev reAet /3el36)(nv be in favor with those at the top, 
that we timorously avoid everything which might bring us even 
a shadow of criticism. A positive vital enthusiasm for work 
no longer dominates the class room, but rather a mechanical 
precision. The vigorous and cheerful endeavor to advance the 
young is frequently supplanted by a characterless seeking for 
position. The officer in us has slain the teacher. 

But if the spirit of the teacher has been kept alive, if we 
have preserved our inner freedom and independence, if the 
class room is the place of our distinctive activity, into which we 
throw our whole personality, then on the other hand we 
readily get into difficulties of a different order. Every decree 
of the director, every conference, every regulation of the gen- 
eral inspector of schools or of the minister of education will then 
frequently appear as an infringement on our personal liberty. 
Opposition to the director consumes valuable spiritual energy 
which could be used to better advantage and far more fruit- 
fully in the service of the young people. One is disposed to 
speak disparagingly of the ordinances of the authorities, which 
affect only externals or are regarded as so general as to make 



20 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

but little difference in the actual process of instruction. But 
it then occasionally happens that we are told very plainly that 
we are merely a teaching force, a teaching individual or a 
teaching person, whose business it is to submit to the directions 
of superiors. It frequently happens that a general inspector of 
schools regards it as his peculiar duty to clearly impress upon 
the consciousness of such enthusiastic teachers, who do their 
own thinking, that their position is a subordinate one and it 
is their business to obey. Personally I have always belonged 
to the latter category of teachers, and never permitted myself 
to be robbed of the joy of teaching. But I must confess, that, 
especially during the early years of my teaching experiences, 
I not infrequently suffered deep anguish of this sort. I clearly 
recall even now the criticism which a school inspector — he 
has died since and I therefore withhold his name — passed on 
my work after several weeks' inspection of the institution. 
I was fully convinced that the classes he visited were doing 
real thinking and the pupils likewise gave evidence of a very 
respectable ability. I certainly expected some words of ap- 
preciation. Instead of this however there was nothing but 
petty grumbling and fault-finding. In the one subject — it 
was psychology in the eighth grade (corresponding to the Prima 
in Germany) — in which he was forced to admit the lively 
participation of the pupils, he did it with a patronizing accent. 
I was so deeply agitated by this criticism, which I regarded so 
palpably unjust, and my soul so deeply mortified that for several 
days I was fully determined to resign. Fortunately considera- 
tion for my family prevented my taking this rash step and I 
afterwards learned to treat such matters differently. 

I have related this experience in order to show that the 
inherent contradiction of our vocation, bet^veen the teacher and 
the officer, will as a matter of fact frequently lead to profound 
soul-struggles and hence that victory over them becomes a mat- 
ter of life or death. And this victory can never be a mere 
one-sided affair. Neither the officer nor the teacher within us 
can have complete control. We must rather seek to realize the 
synthesis of the two as described above. This synthesis is dif- 
ficult, exceedingly difficult, at least more difficult than that 
between science and pedagogy. But the difficulty is still not on 
this account impossible. Dr. Samuel Howe, the American 



The Secondary Teacher 21 

philanthropist and pedagogue, heard of a deaf -blind girl in the 
vicinity of Boston where he had founded the first American 
institute for the blind in 1831. He hastened thither, took the 
child (Laura Bridgman) to his institute and undertook to en- 
able the poor, solitary thing to speak, read and write by means 
of the sense of touch alone. His seemingly impossible task 
succeeded and since then there have been many others, simi- 
larly situated, delivered from their solitude and restored to 
social fellowship with mankind by the method which he elabo- 
rated. Dr. Howe's pedagogical principle was: ''Obstacles 
are things to be overcome.'' I know of no better motto for 
everyone who wishes to devote himself to our difficult vocation. 
Difficult and impossible must forever be regarded as two en- 
tirely different things. It is for this reason that I regard the 
synthesis of the officer and the teacher as difficult, but by no 
means impossible. I base this conclusion, not alone on gen- 
eral psychological principles, but on the fact that I myself 
together with many others have succeeded in overcoming this 
inherent contradiction by such a synthesis. 

The synthesis of science and pedagogy is realized, as indi- 
cated above, by the determination made once for all and then 
rigorously applied, to place the scientific education hitherto ac- 
quired and constantly increased and deepened in the service of 
the school. The far more difficult synthesis of the officer and 
teacher in us involves an analogous process. Whoever feels in- 
clined and capable, as a scientifically educated teacher, of in- 
spiring the maturer pupils to intellectual independence and 
moral responsibility, must clearly understand that his efforts 
cannot realize the results for which he longs and hopes except 
in the service of the state. Every government of the civilized 
world has discovered that education is one of its functions, 
the desire for scientific discipline and a more refined sense of 
moral responsibility cannot be left to private initiative. The 
state has therefore established such institutions ever5rwhere and 
at the same time conferred the mark of official rank upon the 
secondary teacher. We are thus without doubt placed in a 
position of relative dependence by which what is superficially 
called personal liberty is materially limited. We are most cer- 
tainly not permitted to teach only at such times and such mat- 
ters as suits our inclination, at the moment. We are articu- 



22 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

lated in a social organization and things do not proceed hap- 
hazard and without constraint. But the public office, partici- 
pation in a social organization of vast importance may likewise 
be considered from an entirely different viev/point. All social 
phenomena have a particular two-fold bearing. From the 
standpoint of the individual they seem to be wholly objective, 
super-individual and super-personal, power and authority. 
They impel, they restrain, they command and compel. Such, 
indeed is the effect of the prescribed laws, the prevailing 
customs, the religious creeds and forms of worship. But be- 
sides this they operate in a quite different fashion. They are 
not merely outside and apove us. They are likewise in us. 
They enrich our soul, they furnish a contact and a spiritual 
anchorage which, if left to ourselves, we could never attain. 
They furnish our intellect, our feelings and will with ma- 
terial, direction and purpose. The kernel of this truth is 
nevertheless contained in the saying of Christ, as profound as 
it is plain: *' When two or three are together in My name, I 
am in the midst of them." Wherever a number of persons 
unite for the purpose of solving a common moral problem there 
arises among them and above them something of a higher order, 
something super-personal, which makes the impression upon the 
individual of being objective, but which nevertheless at the same 
time penetrates to the depths of his soul, enlarges his own na- 
ture and dedicates him to higher realities. 

As soon as v/e contemplate the official character of our voca- 
tion from this point of view it immediately assumes an entirely 
different aspect. By yielding together with our colleagues to 
the spiritual desire to train the young, by devoting our scientific 
training, our authority and our personality to the purpose of 
inspiring and disciplining the intellectual powers of our pupils, 
of training them in systematic work and the faithful discharge of 
duty, we are not merely exercising our own personal impulses. 
Far from it. We are thus discharging a most important and 
a most significant social service under the inspiration of a higher 
power. Our efforts are thus lifted up from the sphere of the 
individual to that of the super-individual. We are devoting 
ourselves to a matter of great social consequence, and this devo- 
tion is, therefore, well calculated to enlarge and to elevate our 
personality. The whole array and bureaucratic machinery 



The Secondary Teacher 23 

called Into being in the modern state for the purpose of main- 
taining the secondary school and enabling it to discharge its 
functions, the school buildings and their equipments, the Di- 
rector, the Inspector, the Minister's Counsellors, whose busi- 
ness has to do with the management of the secondary school, all 
of this exists for and serves but the single purpose, namely, 
that our efforts in the classroom may proceed systematically, 
under favorable conditions, and thus produce the greatest and 
best results possible. The central member of the entire or- 
ganization, the end which all of this is intended to serve is the 
class exercise, which is to say, we and our pupils. The whole 
machiner)^ is set in array to the end that the pupils may be 
instructed and disciplined as well as possible as intensively and 
as efficiently as possible in the class exercises. If v/e clearly 
understand the facts in this way we must agree that the of- 
ficial character of our vocation is far more calculated to elevate 
the consciousness of the importance and dignity of our pro- 
fession than to degrade and humiliate us. 

There is still another fact to be added. The teacher who 
is both well educated and an enthusiast in his calling is rarely 
also an organizer, a man of system. He lives with the young 
and for the young, knows how to arouse and perhaps to inspire 
them. He is, however, inclined to place slight value on cer- 
tain externalities, and easily permits some old customs to become 
fixed. Put upon his ovv^n responsibility and left entirely to his 
individual resources he might indeed impart instruction very 
interestingly, but he would also neglect many incidentals and 
it might easily happen that the reins would thus slip entirely 
from his hands. But if provision for the systematic arrange- 
ment of the course of instruction comes from the authorities 
outside, if the Director, for example, insists on punctuality in 
the class periods, that the pupils are on time, that the written 
exercises be submitted when due and likewise returned, the 
teacher who is in full sympathy with his calling soon adapts 
himself to requirements which at first seemed arbitrary and 
hard to meet, a.nd soon discovers that his school work has not 
only not been increased and hampered, but relieved and ad- 
vanced. 

With no burdens of conscience on account of arrearages in 
corrected exercises, disturbed by no gross infringements of 



24 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

discipline, he is in a position to fully unfold his personal gifts 
in the class exercise. He can then urge and bestir his pupils 
to his heart's content and the better he succeeds in this the 
greater the satisfaction he will find in his calling. 

I frankly confess having had just such experiences and I 
owe it in no small degree to these very experiences, that I have 
changed and as I believe, come to this higher conception of the 
official character attaching to our vocation. 

That is to say, the secondary teacher who has grasped the 
full meaning of the social function of the secondary school, will 
find that there is not only no obstacle and no indignity in the 
circumstance that we are not only teachers, but officers also, 
likewise servants of the state, but rather an enlargement and 
enhancement of his personal dignity. The duty of coordina- 
tion and subordination arising from our official character, prop- 
erly understood, proves to be really advantageous to the actual 
vocational activity. The synthesis of the officer and teacher 
in us is therefore not only possible, but it implies an enhance- 
ment of our importance and of our dignity. 

But the realization of this synthesis does not rest alone on 
the foregoing conception of our official character. The co- 
ordination with the whole, indispensable to the official relation, 
is, in our special case, adapted to elevate and advance us spir- 
itually only as we constantly retain the consciousness that it is 
our privilege and duty as teachers to preserve our independence. 
Anyone who has worked out a course of instruction and a 
method by which he has been able to enlist the interest of his 
pupils and to impart to them the knowledge and ability re- 
quired from his subject, must permit no one to interrupt him 
and is obliged to defend himself against arbitrary interference, 
against petty and malicious grumbling, if there should be any 
such. The Austrian Instructions repeatedly emphasize the fact 
that the experienced teacher whose work has stood the test 
shall not be hampered in his independence. And it would be 
moral suicide if we should permit our guaranteed liberty, which 
it is both our privilege and our duty to preserve, to be reduced 
and limited in any way whatsoever. When, for example, on 
Education days, votes are frequently taken which require definite 
directions and ordinances for each and every detail, all self- 
respecting men of our profession should oppose it as one man 



The Secondary Teacher 25 

and enter emphatic protest. Such submissive slave-natures may 
be of some use as beasts of burden in certain departments of 
the body politic, as leaders and officers, as educators and teach- 
ers they are ruined once for all. We should see to it that such 
persons quit the profession or at least observe a commendable 
silence in our conventions. 

In the actual operation of the schools — let this be said for 
the consolation of peaceful natures — it happens but rarely that 
the scientifically efficient and the pedagogically tactful teacher 
is required to defend his independence and liberty, his right to 
follow his own method in the classroom, against arbitrary in- 
terference. My experience on this point as given above is an 
incident, thank heaven, that is very exceptional. Personally 
I have not experienced anything approaching it in the latter 
two-thirds of my service as teacher. I have been permitted to 
instruct in my own way without molestation and kindly ap- 
preciation has not been entirely wanting. Directors and In- 
spectors as a rule have far too much to do with the multitudes 
of unsuitable elements which — especially in times of dearth of 
teachers — press into our vocation without bringing along with 
them the necessary intellectual and moral qualification, and 
they are therefore glad to have a number of efficient teachers 
who can complaisantly be permitted to pursue their own course. 
But it still sometimes happens that the government meddles in 
the filling of important positions. The bureaucratic organiza- 
tion of matters pertaining to education rests upon the principle 
that correct conduct and the conscientious discharge of con- 
trollable duties furnish its guaranty, that actual personal effi- 
ciency and inner adaptation to a position of leadership are pres- 
ent. Many a man may of course furnish a high degree of pro- 
tection or comradeship in a certain position, to whom God must 
give understanding only after his patrons have secured his office 
for him. The entrance upon an important position at the same 
time has a tendency to produce a great stir, especially at the 
beginning. The functional delight which accompanies the ex- 
ercises of the office of authority, readily misleads into a vigorous 
exercise of the one function and making the other very promi- 
nent. That is to say, when fresh baked Directors and In- 
spectors are more than ordinarily severe during the first few 
months of their incumbency, the experienced teacher consoles 



26 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

himself with this line from Esch54us (Prom. 35) aTras he Tpayy<i 
oaTL<s av veov Kparfj. " And hard is every one, who to rule has 
just begun." This soon wears oif however and things soon go 
better. But when tyrannical pedantry and malicious fault- 
finding is persistently spread abroad, when teachers have rea- 
son to feel that they have suffered personal injury and that the 
freedom of their teaching has been infringed upon, it then be- 
comes their right and duty, on the basis of undoubted and well 
established facts, to enter their vigorous protest both individu- 
ally and enmasse. In such cases they will likewise succeed as 
abundant experience proves. 

The discussions which follow will explain these two syntheses 
in detail and deduce from them the resulting consequences. 
According to the plan announced above we must first of all 
discuss the nature and purpose of the secondary school as well as 
its social function. This will reveal the various problems of the 
secondary teacher, which we shall then consider more closely 
in detail. This will furnish the opportunity, as we have al- 
ready observed, not only to deduct general principles but like- 
wise to offer practical suggestions directly applicable to the 
actual work of the school. 



CHAPTER II 

THE CHARACTER AND THE PROBLEM OF THE 
SECONDARY SCHOOL 

I. The General Character of the Secondary School 

IN the passionate controversy, which has been raging during 
recent decades against the existing organization of the second- 
ary school, particularly the gymnasium, a controversy in v\^hich 
the indignation of the elders found justifiable expression equally 
with the opinions of reputable men of science, — in this con- 
troversy, I say, the real problem was either entirely overlooked 
or discussed with utter inadequacy. This is the problem: 
Under the social, economic, political or, very generally stated, 
under the existing cultural conditions, what is the problem of 
the secondary school? What can and shall a school doj that 
is intended to impart more than an elementary education to 
our boys and girls, a school which is to enable our youths to 
understand and solve the profound projblems of the agef I 
may perhaps be permitted after thirty years of experience as 
a teacher to attempt a more exact and more thorough answer to 
this question, on the basis of psychological and sociological 
principles, than has hitherto been given. 

The first and the most important prerequisite for us second- 
ary teachers is a proper insight into the nature, the problem 
and the aim of the school in which we are engaged. If we 
shall meet with any success in realizing the two syntheses dis- 
cussed in the previous chapter, and thus become aware of our 
individuality, we must first of all understand the goal towards 
which we wish to lead our pupils in methodical, clearly con- 
scious effort. This insight however cannot be derived from 
the mere practice of teaching. There are historical and psy- 
chological, general pedagogical and sociological considerations 
which cannot be set aside. In this case theory can and must 
precede practice in order to indicate the course to be taken. 
This general, purely theoretical orientation is therefore of spe- 

27 



28 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

cial importance to the prospective teacher as well as to the be- 
ginner in the profession. 

The need of more than an elementary education for the more 
mature young people of the higher classes has made itself felt 
wherever cultural development has reached a certain degree 
of complexity. During recent centuries this need has led to 
the establishment of permanent educational institutions which 
are founded and maintained by the state or other corporations. 
To-day every civilized nation has institutions between the public 
school, which teaches the rudiments of knowledge and skill, 
and the university which is devoted to the advancement of 
scientific investigation. Baumeister's Handbook, The Organi- 
zation and Administration of Higher Education in the Civilized 
States of Europe and North America (Vol. I, Div. 2) con- 
tains a summary of this class of organizations existing at pres- 
ent. Notwithstanding the wide variation in the schedule of 
studies the position of the schools is everywhere the same. 
They all occupy a position between the public school and the 
professional school. And in exact terminology therefore they are 
" Intermediate Schools." 

Having a place above the rudiments of the elementary school, 
and below the special research work of the university, the 
sphere of the " Intermediate School " (which we shall call The 
Secondary School) is in the field of general education. We 
are therefore occupied with the concept of general education 
which is conceived to be the first and most important educa- 
tional aim of the secondary school. We must rid it of its in- 
definiteness, reduce it to its elements and seek to clarify the 
pedagogic-didactic nature of these elements. 

2. The Conception of General Education 

Historico — Critical Analysis 

The term '' general education " is not only used as a watch- 
word by the laity and made the basis for progressive reforms, 
but it is likewise indulged by scientific educators and described 
as a goal to be realized. This concept has however not yet 
attained anything like the definiteness and universality of mean- 
ing which we must require of a scientific instrument of thought. 
The reason for this lies first of all in the fact that the concept 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 29 

of education itself is not precisely defined. By education, as 
a rule we mean about the same thing as " knowledge " but 
the original organic significance of the term is nevertheless 
likewise present as a sort of overtone. When we speak of 
education, we mean not only the possession of certain knowl- 
edge, but likewise a complete discipline and formation of 
man's spiritual powers. We are no doubt thinking more par- 
ticularly of intellectual discipline, but it likewise involves a 
certain development of the emotions and a kind of acquired 
self-discipline of the will. We expect of the educated man, 
not only a certain degree of information, but likewise char- 
acteristic interests and modes of conduct. We shall see farther 
on that this organic significance of the term education is of 
profound importance for our investigation. 

But the indefiniteness of our concept becomes still greater 
and more intolerable because the adjective " general " in our 
combination, is taken in very different senses, mostly without 
being consciously aware of it. If we wish to have a usable 
concept of general education we must try to clear up this 
diversity. It appears to me therefore that as a matter of 
fact there are three entirely distinct modes of using the term, 
the constant blending of which is responsible for the con- 
fusion. 

The term general refers first of all to the subject matter of 
education or of knowledge and signifies the same as " some- 
thing of everything." This is general education in the encyclo- 
pedic sense. But general education can likewise mean some- 
thing entirely different, if the adjective general refers no: to 
the objects but to the subject of education, that is, not to the 
facts, but the men to be educated. In that case general educa- 
tion means the same as the harmonious development of all man's 
spiritual powers. It was in this sense that the neo-humanism, 
elaborated by Herder and William von Humboldt, understood 
the term. I shall call this the biologico-psychological concep- 
tion, because it refers the term general to the vital powers of 
the human organism. 

In addition to these two meanings of the term " general " 
there is still another interpretation which has hitherto been 
almost entirely ignored, which has been brought to our atten- 
tion through the new science of Socioldgy. Here the term 



30 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

" general " means what society demands of all who wish to 
participate in its life. From this point of view general educa- 
tion implies the sum total of social requirements. We shall call 
this mode of interpretation the sociological. 

We shall now have to examine into the process of the forma- 
tion of our concept under these three modes of the interpretation 
of the adjective " general." We shall begin with the last men- 
tioned, with the sociological mode of interpretation, because, 
in my judgment, it is the most original and primary even 
though we have been unaware of it. The encyclopedic con- 
ception of general education has evolved from sociological re- 
quirements, as I shall hope to show, and the biologico-psychologic 
conception has in turn evolved from the encyclopedic. It will 
then be possible on the basis of this historico-critical analysis, 
undertaken in the sense indicated from the elements of these 
various concepts which are still active, to reach an interpreta- 
tion of general education corresponding to the needs of the 
present time. 

A. General Education in the Sociological Sense 

Wherever, under civilized conditions, an active mental and 
social life is evolved there results an educated social class. This 
class imposes certain requirements upon every individual who 
wishes to become a member of the group, participate in the 
life of the community and receive recognition in it. These re- 
quirements are, as a matter of course, nowhere precisely formu- 
lated, but still sufficiently well understood by all that they 
govern their own conduct, and especially the matters pertain- 
ing to the education and instruction of their children, according 
to it. We desire certain facts and accomplishments, we pre- 
suppose an interest in certain definite things, we insist upon a 
specific kind of individual and social forms. The sum-total 
of these social requirements constitute general education in the 
sociological sense. The content of these requirements naturally 
varies in the different periods of civilization. It is one thing 
in the Athens of fifth and fourth centuries B. C. and quite dif- 
ferent in Rome during the period of the empire. Here, e.g., the 
knowledge of a foreign language, that of the Greeks, enters 
into the content of general education. During the period of 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 31 

humanism and the renaissance both the ancient languages and 
an appreciation of plastic art are the most essential requirements. 
In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries mathematical, scien- 
tific and especially philosophical problems constitute the subject 
matter of conversation in the French Salons. In the latter half 
of the eighteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth century- 
general education again assumes a more aesthetic cast. In the 
first half of the nineteenth century the historical came strongly 
to the front in Germany, whilst in the second half science and 
technique gradually began to be elements of general education. 

The one element which is relatively the most constant is the 
requirement of a correct and acceptable use of the mother 
tongue and an acquaintance with the chief works of polite 
literature. 

Such a sociological conception of general education has existed 
for more than two thousand years. In proof of this assertion 
permit me to submit a passage from the " Protagoras " of 
Plato, which likewise seems to me in other ways to illustrate 
this sociological phase of our concept very clearly. The pas- 
sage is found in the third chapter of the dialogue (p. 312 b). 
A brief recapitulation of what precedes it is necessary to an 
understanding of the passage. The studious, enthusiastic young 
aristocrat, Hippocrates, comes to Socrates very early in the 
morning and invites him to visit the renowned Sophist Protag- 
oras who is now staying in Athens, that he might gain some in- 
formation from him. Socrates asks him what it is that he 
would like to learn from Protagoras, and explains the meaning 
of his question by two examples. " Let us assume," he remarks, 
" that you wished to apply to your cousin of the name, the 
renowned physician of Coos for instruction, what would be 
your purpose?" Hippocrates answers, ''I would do this in 
case I wished to become a physician." " And If you should 
go to Phidias or to Polycleltus? " *' Then I should wish to be- 
come a sculptor." " What then Is the vocation of Protagoras? " 
Socrates further Inquires. '' They call him one of the sophists." 
" But w^ould you not hesitate to acknowledge to all Greece that 
you wish to become a sophist? " " I frankly confess, yes, if I am 
to speak truly, what I think." To this Socrates remarks — 
and now comes the important passage (see vol. i, p. 112) to 
which we refer — as follows: "Perhaps you do not regard 



32 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

Protagoras' instruction in this light (as in the two examples 
given), but perhaps after the manner of the instruction of the 
grammarian, the musician and of the trainer. The learning 
acquired from these was not intended as professional learning 
with a view to preparing you for some definite profession, but 
only as a part of general education, and because a gentleman and 
a freeman ought to know them ? " 

The passage is interesting first of all as a bit of the history of 
civilization, because we here discover for the first time the 
conception of general education. But it is likewise materially 
significant because the simplicity and impartiality peculiar to 
the Greek mind bring it to pass that the most important elements 
of our concept are here presented with extraordinary clearness 
and force. The language "^ because a gentleman and a freeman 
ought to know them '* clearly implies that general education 
is a social requirement. Furthermore general education is here 
very definitely distinguished from specialized and vocational edu- 
cation. But the content of the social requirements, if we sub- 
ject the passage to a little analysis, offers important and valu- 
able suggestions, and thus indicates again that the German neo- 
humanism was still not so far in the wrong when it insisted that 
the intensive study of Greek thought is of the highest value for 
modern education. 

Let us examine the content of these requirements more closely. 
The pupils did not simply learn to read and write from the 
grammarian; they likewise became acquainted with the poetry 
of the fatherland and memorized many passages from Homer 
and Hesiod, and later also from Pindar and the tragedians. 
We thus observe that the correct use of the mother tongue 
and acquaintance with the chief works in its literature belong to 
the oldest and most fundamental elements of general education. 
If we in Germany still insist with perfect right on the intensive 
study of the German language and literature in the intermediate 
school, we are simply returning to the principle which to the 
Greeks was self-evident. The progress of civilization has 
revealed the fact that for many centuries foreign languages and 
literatures constituted a more important part of general educa- 
tion, but these same Greeks can teach us that the most elemen- 
tary requirement involves the cultivation of the native tongue. 
The musician arouses the soul and imparts aesthetic education, 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 33 

which is at present very properly coming into the foreground 
again. And finally the fact that in Greece the trainer dared 
not be wanting is a most emphatic witness to the importance 
of physical development. The modern period is even in this 
respect reverting to what the Greeks could and should have 
taught us long since. 

Hence if we follow the evolution of the sociological moment, 
so clearly evinced in the passage quoted, we will discover im- 
portant phases of our concept which would otherwise have 
escaped us. From this point of view general education appears 
as a social requirement. The acquirement of knowledge and 
of education which we are disposed to regard as a matter to be 
left to the choice and caprice of the individual thus assumes the 
imperative aspect characteristic of all social requirements and 
hence a social duty. This duty demands that the individual 
meet the requirements imposed by society to the limit of his abil- 
ity. But it at the same time holds society responsible for giving 
the individual a chance to discharge this duty. Inasmuch there- 
fore as the social evolution constantly tends to make the state 
the commander of society, the state finds itself under the ne- 
cessity not only to make possible the establishment of the schools 
involved in the requirements of general education, but like- 
wise to use its full authority in enforcing their establishment. 
The principle of compulsory school attendance which has in 
recent times become a law in almost every civilized nation is a 
result of this development, to the gradual realization of which 
the most varied social, economic, political and military factors 
have contributed. 

Hitherto the principle of general compulsory school attend- 
ance has been limited to the elementary subjects and accomplish- 
ments taught in the public schools, but almost everywhere the 
state has likewise taken the higher general education of certain 
classes of the social body in hand, and thus recognized its im- 
perative character. Historical evolution furthermore reveals 
the fact that the social class on which society imposes the intel- 
lectual requirements, described by the term general education, 
has constantly been increasing. We see particularly at the 
present time that the economically weaker portion of the popu- 
lation, the laboring class, is constantly striving for higher edu- 
cation. To meet these needs, the various nations have begun to 



34 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

extend the privileges of the advanced school, and the organiza- 
tions for popular education arising therefrom constitute the 
palpable justification for this extension. It follows from this, 
that the higher general education is increasingly felt as a social 
duty, and that the need of discharging this duty is constantly 
spreading. 

To us intermediate teachers this first result of the sociological 
interpretation of our concept is very significant. If we are 
imparting general education to our pupils, we are not simply 
training them intellectually and esthetically, but likewise ethi- 
cally. And this at once gives our eiforts an essentially spiritual 
aspect and a profounder meaning. We are helping our pupils 
to realize one of their most important social obligations, and our 
own position in the social organism thus becomes vastly more 
significant. 

The content of the requirements which society imposes on the 
individual in this respect not only varies with the different 
epochs of culture, but it likewise varies in the same period in 
different classes of society. But notwithstanding this the socio- 
logical mode of interpretation is not wholly useless for the con- 
tent of general education. We observe first of all that certain 
requirements show a constant tendency to recur, and thus become 
constant elements of general education. This is especially true 
of the linguistic and aesthetic elements of education. A knowl- 
edge of language and its elements, the correct and generally 
chaste use of the same in conversation together with acquaintance 
with masterpieces of literature have been the criteria of educa- 
tion for more than two thousand years. Among the Greeks, as 
a matter of course, it was the mastery of the native tongue that 
was regarded essential; among the Romans, the Greek in ad- 
dition to their own language; during the middle ages, and the 
humanistic period, a knowledge of the Latin was regarded as 
the indispensable requirement. In the modern period even to 
the present time there has been almost a universal return to 
the native tongue, that the clearest distinction between the edu- 
cated and the uneducated is still correct and choice mode of 
speech. We may say therefore that linguistic education, and 
at present especially the mother tongue undoubtedly belongs 
to the social requirements which we regard as the elements of 
general education and which must be treated accordingly in our 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 35 

educational institutions. The extent to which foreign languages 
come under this classification cannot be shown directly by the 
sociological mode of interpretation. The social requirements 
In this respect have been too varied, as Zielinski observes, to 
evolve a principle favorable to the ancient languages. 

In addition to the linguistic and aesthetic education there 
soon arises a desire for a knowledge of things. There is an 
evident tendency to foster all forms of knowledge worth know- 
ing, I.e., to oifer them. The speech of the linguistically edu- 
cated man will be rich in proportion to his knowledge of facts 
and things. The orator, the lawyer, the historian, the philoso- 
pher, above all the generally educated man is expected to 
know a little of everything. Society is naturally less concerned 
about the thoroughness than about breadth of information, 
and the possession and command of useful knowledge. Just 
as soon therefore, as the sociological requirement extends beyond 
linguistic and aesthetic education to knowledge about things, it 
produces a new conception of general education. The impera- 
tive moment naturally persists, but the object of the requirement 
assumes a more concrete, and definite form. Ever^^ educated 
man Is expected to know a little of everj^thlng, and thus the 
encyclopedic character of general education Is evolved, to the 
discussion of which we now proceed. 



B. The Encyclopedic Theory 

The name, and the Idea of encyclopedic education arose 
in antiquity. A course of study for the education of the young 
which came Into general use seems to have been evolved in 
Athens, and in other parts of Greece as w^ell about the fourth 
century b. c. Thus Plutarch, e.g., in his life of Alexander the 
Great, relates the fact that King Phllipp refused to limit his 
son's training to music and the customary education ra lyKVKkia 
TratBev/xaTa of the time, but that he wished to furnish him with 
a discipline suited to his individuality, and hence called Aristotle 
to the position of tutor to his son. (Pub. Alex. C. 7.) Aris- 
totle also uses the word lyKVKXca repeatedly in the sense of cus- 
tomary, general practice, and in reference to spiritual things as 
well. It is in this sense that he speaks of eyKiVAta (f)i\ocro(f)r]fiaTa 
meaning philosophical doctrines which have been widely dis- 



36 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

semlnated and found general acceptance. During the hellenlstic 
period the subjects which had been generally introduced in the 
education of the young were organized into a system and called 
lyKVKXta TratSevfJLaTa, eyKV/cAtos TratSeta which later gave rise tO 
the compound word iyKVKkoTratSeLa (Encyclopedia). Here it is 
clearly evident that the word stands for a definite list of the 
sciences which comprehend everything worth knowing.^ 

But this encyclopedic education was still for a long time re- 
garded as the prerogative of the freeman. It is an adornment 
of the mind and not intended to serve any practical end. The 
" Arts " of which it consists are called the " liberal arts." They 
are also regarded as a kind of preparatory training which is 
intended to precede the strictly scientific, i.e., the philosophic, 
education as well as actual vocational education. 

But it loses this character in later antiquity and the middle 
ages. The content of encyclopedic education becomes fixed. 
It consists of the seven liberal arts, classified as elementary and 
scientific. The elementary division is called Trivium and em- 
braces Grammar, Dialectics, and Rhetoric; the more advanced 
division is called the Quadrivium and consists of Arithmetic, 
Geometry, Music and Astronomy. 

We discover attempts at organizing the sum total of en- 
cyclopedic knowledge into a series of text books for the use of 
the schools even among the Romans. Varro, the contemporary 
of Cicero, wrote his disciplinarum libri novem, containing the 
enc5^clopedic education of his age, with this end in view. He 
adds medicine and architecture to the seven liberal arts. Celsus 
and Appuleius wrote similar compendiums, and St. Augustine 
made plans for the production of a great encyclopedia, only a 
few parts of which however came to completion. Marcian 
Capella's (about 425 A. D.) text book, bearing the title Satiricon 
libri IX, was in use throughout the entire middle age period. 
(Cf. Willman, Didaktik, 4 Ed. p. 128.) During the middle 

1 Vitruvius describes this encyclopedic conception of education very 
clearly as follows: "It may well be that the inexperienced are aston- 
ished at the fact that the human mind is capable of mastering such a 
large number of sciences and retain them in memory. But if they have 
observed that all these branches are vitally related and connected, this 
possibility will be more readily understood. For encyclopedic education 
is analogous to a body which comprises these members." 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 37 

ages the system based on the seven liberal arts attained a sort 
of canonical authority. The number seven is frequently de- 
scribed as the symbol of perfection, the arts and their system 
graphically illustrated and arranged in mnemonic verses. Will- 
man, to whom we are indebted for these data, observes: *' The 
ancient title, ' artes liberales ' is retained but its relation to the 
education of free citizens is lost." Following the method of 
Cassiodorus, liberalis is derived from liber, book, and the artes 
are therefore construed as book sciences. {Didaktik 4 173 f.) 
Of the seven liberal arts the first three comprised under the 
name Trivium are by far the most important. Everyone who 
is to correctly understand and expound the Holy Scriptures 
and the Church Fathers, as well as those whose duty require 
them to produce the evidences for the truth of the doctrine of 
the church in the numerous Disputations, had to be disciplined 
in Grammar, Dialectic and Rhetoric. But many of the com- 
pendiums of the middle ages likewise include the real sciences, 
not even only those of the Quadrivium. The lack of books 
made such encyclopedias exceedingly valuable, and, in the state 
of the sciences at that period, they were possible and practical. 
During the period of humanism and the renaissance the 
encyclopedic character of education at first fell into the back- 
ground. The Roman orators and poets were read and studied 
with a view to acquiring the ability of Latin oratory and versifi- 
cation. An opposition to the Aristotelian scholastic logic like- 
wise arose and it was thought the art of persuasion and proof 
could be acquired and taught better from Cicero. But this did 
not last long. The improvement in economic conditions and the 
increasing significance of citizenship together with many other 
circumstances gave rise to a constantly growing desire for a 
fuller practical education of the young. The attempt was there- 
fore made to impart a large amount of practical information, for 
the most part poorly arranged, by means of the instruction in 
Latin which was still regarded as an indispensable requisite for 
the educated man. The '' Orbis Pictus " and the " Janua lingu- 
arum reserata " of Amos Comenius are in fact nothing more 
than little encyclopedias designed to furnish youth with the 
matters of greatest consequence about the world and life. The 
famous polyhistorian, Daniel George Morhoff, even undertook 
to give a kind of encyclopedia or polymathy, as it was called, a 



38 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

philosophical and psychological basis by directing attention to 
the organic relation and unity of science, as well as to a vital 
impulse in human nature (a op/xr; tt/oos iravra fxaOrj/xaTa) , which 
inspires everyone with a desire for all human knowledge. (Cf. 
Heubaum, History of German Education^ I, p. 28.) 

After the middle of the seventeenth century the increasing 
differentiation of vocation and the rise of an aristocratic state 
in Germany emphasized the need of different preparation for 
the different classes and vocations. Heubaum has shown this 
very clearly in the work just cited. Academies for the nobility 
and, in addition to the Latin schools still maintained in the 
cities, schools for the poor and the peasant class of the rural 
districts were founded. The element of utility in education 
received greater stress than previously, without however losing 
its encyclopedic character. 

And as a matter of fact the neohumanisms for which Shafts- 
bury, Rollin Gesner, Ernesti and Heyne prepared the way and 
which was reduced to a working system by Herder, Fr. Aug. 
Wolf and William von Humboldt, the educational ideal of 
which we shall presently discuss, did not completely break with 
the encyclopedic education. Ernesti, the philologist, published 
his Initia doctrinae solidioris in the j^ear 1755, a distinctively 
encyclopedic textbook which was used In the Gymnasia for a long 
time. Even though the ancient languages constituted the pre- 
dominant part of the German gymnasial curriculum until In the 
seventies of the nineteenth century, so many other subjects 
were nevertheless gradually Introduced that their educational 
system again assumed an encyclopedic character. At present this 
is far more the case In the various kinds of higher schools. The 
discussions of school reform, which have been vigorously in- 
dulged In recent years, contain frequent mention of new sub- 
jects which should find a place in the intermediate school, on the 
ground that they belong to a general education. 

But on the other hand we must not forget that, owing to the 
unprecedented Increase of knowledge, especially as produced 
during the nineteenth century, an actually encyclopedic educa- 
tion Is becoming more and more impossible. At present even 
the scholar, speaking generally, can thoroughly master but a 
single division of his subject and every attempt at comprehend- 
ing the whole field of knowledge must now be pronounced a 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 39 

failure from the start. We must therefore say frankly and 
unequivocally once for all: General education in the en- 
cyclopedic sense is an utter impossibility and the proposition of 
making such a conception the aim of the intermediate school 
is an absurdity which must be set aside. The much quoted saying 
of Heraclitus is especially pertinent at this point: " Polymathy 
does not discipline the mind." {iroXvfiaOLrj voov ov StSaaKa.) 
Every effort to formulate our course of study according to the 
encyclopedic idea must of necessity lead to an intolerable over- 
burdening of the course and at the same time to a reckless super- 
ficiality. 

But since the encyclopedic conception of general education 
has persisted with great tenacity for more than two thousand 
years notwithstanding these facts, and the fact that the desire 
to know everything which man has ever known is still 
indulged by many men would seem to indicate that this con- 
ception must rest upon some deeper basis still. There seems to 
be something in the nature of man that impels him with a de- 
sire to experience everything which the human race has ever 
experienced. Goethe has given an intimation of what this is 
in Faust, a sort of revelation of concentrated man : 

" And all that has been vouchsafed to all mankind, 
I would in mine inmost self enjoy, 
In my own mind conceive the heights and depths. 
Collect its weal and woe within my bosom 
And thus expand my own self to comprehend the All." 

A human being is not merely a microcosm, a world in minia- 
ture, he is likewise a miniature copy of the human race. Each 
one of us bears the impress of the milleniums of spiritual strug- 
gle in the form of spiritual precipitates. Everyone feels a vital 
relationship with everything which man has ever thought, felt or 
desired and has an impulse to know and to repeat in his own 
experience all these things. The force of this experience is 
most fully and clearly felt by the more richly endov/ed, but 
each one of us wishes, at least unconsciously, that nothing hu- 
man shall remain unknown to him. 

Our ego is a unity, perhaps indeed the primary im.age of all 
unities, the correlate of which we presume to discover or seek 
to produce in things and in the universe. But our ego is not 
an element, it is not an atom. It is rather the psychical expres- 



40 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

sion of our centralized organization capable of producing an 
infinite variety of functions. These functions tend to become 
active and it may well be that the functional impulses thus 
evolved are the ultimate and primary source of the yearning 
for general education. This yearning however is not merely 
concerned with the multiplicity of facts, but, consistently with 
the nature of our ego, the unity in the multiplicity. It is in 
this sense that Morhof seems to have construed encyclopedic 
education as a unity of all the sciences. We find the same idea 
more profoundly elaborated by Fichte in his " Proposed Plan 
for the Founding of a Higher Institution of Learning at Berlin." 
Pie here insists that every professor should first of all publish 
an encyclopedia of the matter within his department and that 
the several encyclopedias be arranged as one uniform philosophi- 
cal encyclopedia. " For the several encyclopedias of the differ- 
ent departments, elaborated to the greatest attainable clearness, 
are first of all constituent members of the general encyclopedia 
of philosophy. This is especially true if both the teachers and 
the pupils are acquainted with all of them. They will like- 
wise serve as a great stimulus to the former and render the 
latter comprehensible, once it is established, because they will 
also receive renewed authentication and clearness from it. 
Hence it follows that unity and the interpretation of reality from 
a single viewpoint constitutes the very nature of the philosophy 
and of the technique for which we are striving. Unrelated 
multiplicity and singularity without any coordination whatso- 
ever on the other hand is unphilosophical, confused and awk- 
ward. This we should like to banish entirely from the earth." 
(Fichte, Werke VIII, 127 f.; Spranger, 31 f.) 

Hegel's Encyclopedia of Philosophy is also a kind of com- 
pendium of knowledge which is intended to form a unity by 
means of a uniform dialectical method of developing the con- 
cepts. But all these efforts to reduce encyclopedia to objective 
unity go to pieces in the constantly increasing, practically im- 
measurable wealth of knowledge and the increasing differentia- 
tion in the methods of investigation. 

Man's undoubted native desire for universal knowledge can 
never be satisfied with a mere accumulation of facts. It is pos- 
sible, as a matter of course, to introduce him objectively to a 
vast amount and well arranged material, but this will not 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 41 

inspire his spiritual powers to fruitful exercise and bring them 
into unitary consistency. Our educational concept must there- 
fore not be sought in things but in the man who is to be educated. 
The path leads from within outward and not from without in- 
ward. Our classical poets and thinkers, particularly Herder, 
Goethe, Schiller and William von Humboldt, have elaborated 
an ideal of education for us in harmony with this principle of 
orientation. We have thus arrived at the third conception of 
general education suggested above which will probably also be 
the most important for our constructive synthesis. 

C. The Biolocico^Psychological Theory of General 
Education 

Here the term " general "" receives an entirely different mean- 
ing. It no longer means what society requires, and still less 
does it correspond to " something of everything." " General " 
is here wholly restricted to the spiritual nature of man. The 
whole of man's nature is to be taken into account, not merely a 
single phase, the understanding for example. All the latent 
powers of man shall rather be quickened and developed. The 
whole man is to be so trained and " educated " as to produce 
an enriched and well-balanced personality, with an appreciative 
capacity for everything which transpires in the realm of heart 
and mind. But the new aspect of the concept " education " is 
even more important than this change in the meaning of the 
term " general." Drill and training with a view to external 
ends no longer constitute the essence of education. It is not 
a matter of forcefully filling the soul by the process of a dead 
cramming of the memory. Education means organic develop- 
ment and a growth from within. This new concept of educa- 
tion may indeed be said to have sprung from the spirit of the 
German language, to have been formulated by the most cul- 
tured minds of the German nation for the German people for 
the salvation of all mankind. If we read in the much-quoted 
work of Paulsen or still better in his article on " Education " in 
Reins Encyclopedia (I, 414 ff.) what changes of the educational 
ideal, what profound culture movement was produced by this 
spiritualized organic conception of education in the latter half 
of the eighteenth and at the beginning of the nineteenth century, 



42 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

we will see that a permanent step of progress in the evolution 
of the human race is here prepared. 

The stimulus to this reconstruction however came from 
France. In his " Emile " Rousseau had issued the call to re- 
turn to nature and pleaded with a fiery enthusiasm for an 
education according to nature. But the thing for which Rous- 
seau appealed with passionate persuasiveness was first cast into 
permanent form and developed to a living fact in Germany. 
Pestalozzij the Philanthropists and Herbart made education 
from within the fundamental principle of elementary education 
and thus created the modern public school. By theory and 
practice these men laid the foundation of a public school peda- 
gogy which has developed wonderfully and beneficently during 
the course of the nineteenth century. The principle indeed in 
the course of time became a sort of a dead letter of routine 
method, but the majority of the public school teachers of 
Germany and Austria are nevertheless more secure in their 
method and more definite in their aim because of their posses- 
sion of a method of instruction than the teachers of the inter- 
mediate schools. And they are likewise more open to progres- 
sive didactic stimuli, as is evident from the interest in the 
experimental didactics in the public schools inaugurated by Lay 
and Meumann. 

The educational theory elaborated by the German neohuman- 
ists dominates the higher schools and thus the entire culture 
movement among the intellectual leaders of the German people. 
The new ideal of education and the whole movement have often 
been described. Thus especially by Paulsen in the passages 
referred to above and likewise in Zieglers History of Pedagogy, 
3d edition, p. 266 if. After calling attention to these treatises 
I will simply indicate the essential features and call special 
attention to several factors which seem to me to have been 
somewhat neglected hitherto. 

Neohumanism is not based alone on the new evolution of 
ancient art and poetry, anticipated by Shaftesbury and Rolhn, 
philologically established by Gesner, Ernesti and Heyne and 
inaugurated especially by Winckelmann and Lessing, but like- 
wise on a profounder psychological insight into the nature and 
function of the human mind. This is clearly apparent in John 
G. Herder, the man who was the first to grasp the new ideal 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 43 

of education in its full breadth and depth, and made the 
largest contributions to its formulation and dissemination. 
Herder is preeminently a psychologist, and a psychologist more- 
over whose importance for this science has not even yet been 
appreciated fully. According to Herder the human organism 
is a unity in which the physical and the psychical vitally inter- 
penetrate in mutual interaction. For him life is spirit and 
spirit is life. In this respect he is closely related to our modern 
biologists, the so-called psycho-vitalists. He regards Leibnitz's 
theory of preestablished harmony, which has no room for the 
idea of interpenetration but simply a parallelism of the physical 
and the psychical, as utterly incomprehensible. (" Concerning 
Knowledge and Experience," Works, Ed. 1853, Vol. 31, 
12 ff.) ^ " According to my limited observation it is impossible 
to speak of psj^ch'ology which is not at every step definite physi- 
ology. Haller's physiology elevated to the rank of psychology 
and endowed with mind like Pygmalion's statue, — then we 
will be in position to speak of thought and knowledge." (Op. 
cit., p. 17.) Besides this Herder's psychology is not in the 
least intellectualistic — in which he is also quite modern. Ac- 
cording to him the nature of man consists far more in the 
quality and intensity of his feeling and will. " The inward- 
ness, depth and extent with which we receive, elaborate and 
propagate emotional impressions is what makes us either the 
profound or shallow natures which we are. Causes are fre- 
quently located below the diaphragm which we erroneously and 
laboriously seek to find in the head. Hence the idea can never 
arise without the previous experience in its natural place. The 
extent of our participation in the things of our environment, the 
depth with which love and hate, disgust and aversion, indigna- 
tion and delight, find root in us, it is this that attunes the 
melody of our thoughts, that makes us the men we are." (Op. 
cit., p. 16.) 

It is this organic theory of spiritual life, and especially the 
correct understanding of the significance of feeling and will 
which made Herder the author of the Storm and Stress period, 
which are likewise fundamental, determining principles in Herd- 
er's theory and ideal of education. He knew both as a psycholo- 

iMy references are to the Cotta Edition of 1853. The School Ad- 
dresses are referred to in the Suphan Edition, vol. 30. 



44 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

gist and an educator of wide experience that the child mind is 
predisposed to the exercise of its powers. '" Why has the creator 
endowed youth, the male youth on the one hand with such 
vivacity, such a restless spirit, such a disposition to rivalry, and 
their sisters with an irrepressible curiosity? It can be for no 
other purpose than that humanity should be exercised, trained 
in all its powers.^ This involves the movement of the eyes, 
feet, hands, tongue, lips, expression of the countenance in our 
richly endowed, exquisite organism." — " Our bodies are adapted 
to exercise by their very construction, our spiritual powers are 
characterized by these childhood predispositions and no others. 
There is nothing so detestable to a healthy child or boy, one 
that is trained, trained to happiness, to joyous youth as indolent 
inactivity: an inactive life is death to him; lively, and even 
severe exercise brings joy and health." (W. Suphan 30, 253 f.) 
The predisposition to the exercise of every power is present 
therefore and it is the business of education to bring these 
powers to complete development by exercise. Teaching must 
therefore never be a process of hammering, of mere drill, it 
must rather inspire the pupil's self-activity. " No teacher can 
give, or pour into me his thoughts; he can, should and must 
awaken my thoughts by means of ideas, so that they are 7ny 
thoughts and not his/' (Op. cit., p. 268.) 

But it is not merely the intellect and the understanding that 
require this kind of discipline. Feeling and will likewise require 
development and exercise. " Any one whose constant industry 
at school has made dull, who studies to the point of mental 
weakness, hypochondria, depletion and ill health, who trains the 
spiritual to the neglect of the body, as if he were a pure and 
foolish mind, who cultivates one mental power, the imagination 
or the memory for example, without regard for the others, as 
understanding and reflection, who studies for the head without 
regard for the heart, or on the contrary, who is everlastingly 
absorbed in sensation without elaborating correct concepts with 
cold-blooded courage, who toys with everything and avoids 
serious, persistent effort as he does the bottomless pit, all these 
learn nothing for life; for life requires the whole undivided 
man, the healthy man with all his powers and members, he 

1 Which is beyond me. 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 45 

must apply himself with head and heart, with thought, volition 
and deed, not only in play but likewise in the most serious 
affairs of life, not only agreeably but vigorously. Any one 
who is unable to do this, who has failed to train himself for 
this early in life, has acquired nothing for life." (Op. cit., 
272.) I shall quote one more passage from the same address 
which discusses the subject " Non scholae sed vitae discendum." 
" Finally since life not only uses facts and ideas, but likewise vo- 
litions, and deeds, and it is in these above all that life consists, 
and the proverb '' learn life rather than the school " directs itself 
especially to the training of the heart and of character. What 
avails it to possess a thousand facts and no will, no taste, no 
desire or impulse to live, honestly and really to live. We live 
in the will, the heart must condemn or comfort, encourage or 
defeat, reward or punish us; the efficiency and value, the good 
or ill fortune of life is not based on facts alone, but on char- 
acter and impulse, on what dwells in the human breast." 
(273) Herder's pedagogical maxim may be briefly formu- 
lated somewhat as follows: The whole man is to be fully 
trained in each individual so that each may become complete. 
Herder invented the phrase. Education to humanity, to express 
this pedagogical aim. He elaborates and praises this ideal 
psj^chologically and pedagogically, historically and philosophi- 
cally with untiring effort. In one of the " Letters for the Ad- 
vancement of Humanity" (No. 24, vol. 35, p. 114) he makes 
a defence of the word against a weak germ.inization and con- 
tinues : " Let us therefore hold fast to the word humanity 
with which the best authors both ancient and modern have as- 
sociated such noble ideas. Humanity constitutes the character 
of our race; but it is innate only in rudimentary form and it 
must really be acquired through education. We do not bring 
it with us into the world as a finished product; in the world, 
however, it is intended to be the goal of all our effort, the sum 
total of our activities, our worth, for we know nothing of the 
angelic in man, and if the Daemon which governs our conduct 
is not a human Daemon we are a plague to mankind. The 
divine in our race is therefore the education to humanity. All 
great and good men, statesmen, inventors, philosophers, poets, 
artists every noble soul in his particular sphere, has contributed 
to this end in the bringing up of his children, in the discharge 



46 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

of his duties, by example, deed, institution and doctrine. Hu- 
manity consists of the treasure store and profit of every human 
relationship, in short the art of our race. Education to this 
end is a task which must be incessantly fostered, lest we revert, 
both high and low, to a state of crude animality, to brutality." 
It is Herder's profound conviction to which he gives fre- 
quent expression that this humanity is likewise the goal and 
meaning of human history. He undertook to elaborate this 
thought in his Ideas and thus lay the foundation for a phil- 
osophy of history. In book four of the Ideas we read : " I 
have indulged the wish that I might comprehend everything 
which I have hitherto said concerning the education of man 
to rationality and freedom, to his speculations and impulses, to 
the most delicate and the most rugged health, to the replenishing 
and subduing of the earth, in the word humanity. For man 
has no better word with which to describe his own nature than 
what he himself is, in whom the image of the creator of the 
world is imprinted, in a way in which it may here become 
visible." The idea that humanity is the conscious or unconscious 
ideal of social evolution appears more clearly in book fifteen. 
The title of the first chapter of this book is: " Humanity is the 
Destiny of the Human Race, and with this Destiny God has 
placed the Fate of our Race in its own Hands." At the very 
beginning we read : " It is with a view to this manifest destiny, 
as we have seen, that our nature is organized, our finer sensi- 
bilities and instincts, our reason and freedom, our delicate and 
abiding health, our language, art and religion are directed 
towards it. In every situation and in every community it has 
been utterly impossible for man to have any other thought, to 
strive for any other goal than humanity, and in the way in 
which he conceived it. The arrangements of nature in the 
race and our respective ages are adapted to this end, the period 
of childhood lasts longer and acquires a kind of humanity only 
through the help of education. All the various modes of 
human life throughout the earth have been instituted, all varie- 
ties of social organization have been founded to this end." 
Throughout all history whatsoever of good has ever been done 
has been done for the sake of humanity; whatsoever of folly, 
viciousness and atrocities have come into vogue were perpetrated 
against humanity, so that it is impossible for man to conceive 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 47 

of any other purpose in all his earthly contrivances than those 
which he finds within himself, i.e., imbedded in the weakness 
and strength, the lowliness and nobility of the nature in which 
God created him. If therefore we know ever>'thing through- 
out the whole universe only by what it is and by the effects it 
produces, the purpose of the human race on earth likewise 
receives its clearest demonstration in its nature and history." 
(29, 216 f.) 

Humanity is therefore the ideal of history and education to 
humanity the duty of man. As yet this goal has nowhere been 
attained, but the nearest approach to the ideal — is not in the 
period in which Herder lived, but in the culture of the Greeks 
in their best days. Herder as a matter of course also con- 
strues Greek civilization entirely from the historical point of 
view and likewise on this account deserves more consideration 
at the present time. Even among the Greeks everything is 
conditioned by place, time and circumstance which accounts for 
the fact that the spirit of the Greeks cannot be repeated. 
" The thought of any one inventing, of singing an Iliad now, 
of any one writing like Eschylus, Sophocles, Plato; is impossible. 
The childlike simplicity, the unconstrained mode of thinking 
about the world, in short the period of Greek childhood is past." 
(29, 245) But we can nevertheless learn from the Greeks how 
to exercise and develop our powers so as to adapt them to the 
problems of our own age. In his youth Herder was an enthusi- 
astic admirer of the Greeks and he remained such until the time 
of his death. In the Fragments he praises the Greek poets 
in glowing terms : '' Yea verily, the Greeks with their fine 
poetic sense are worthy of emulation ; they, whose splendid ideal 
furnishes us a reflection of nature, like the sun is mirrored in 
the sparkling brook; whose poetic design was described by the 
goddess Eunomia and embellished her daughters, the heavenly 
graces, whose images are veiled in the glory of the rising sun, 
whose mouth speaks melodies — they are worthy of emulation." 
(18, 218) There are even passages in the thirteenth book of 
the Ideas, which is devoted exclusively to the Greeks, treating 
of their historical development and significance, in which the 
Greeks are described as typical, as our everlasting teachers. 
" The young people must learn to read the Greeks because the 
aged rarely see them and are rarely inclined to appropriate their 



48 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

flowers." — " We have still much to learn In their forms of ex- 
pression, the beautiful proportion and sweep of their ideas, 
the nature-inspired intensity of their sensations, and finally in the 
sonorous rhythm of their language, which has never found its 
equal anywhere." " In point of popular enlightenment we are 
indebted to solitary Athens for all that is the greatest and most 
beautiful of all the ages." Herder begins his General Observa- 
tions on the History of Greece with the following words: " We 
have contemplated the history of this remarkable zone from 
several points of v'ltw, because in the philosophy of history it in a 
sense is a unique datum among all the nations of the earth. The 
Greeks are not only free from the admixture of foreign nations 
and maintained their identity in their whole education; but 
they have likewise lived through their periods so fully and 
traversed the whole course, from the smallest beginnings of 
education, so completely as no other nation of history has done." 
" They speak to us with a philosophical spirit, the humanity 
of which I seek in vain to put into my essay concerning them." 
But Herder has given the best characterization of the Greek 
spirit in its pure manliness and in its pedagogic value in his 
Nemesis, a Suggestive Allegory, a work that has been some- 
what neglected by the expounders of the Herder literature. 
Herder here discusses the distinctively Greek conception of 
Nemesis on the basis of artistic representations and poetic refer- 
ences with which the Greeks have incorporated their refined 
sense of Justice which curbs and avenges superciliousness in 
good fortune. In the conclusion of this brief but richly sugges- 
tive essay he observes : " Moreover I doubt whether any nation 
has ever described the poco piu and poco meno of human 
sociation, i.e., the fine outline of the form and art of life, so 
clearly and so beautifully as the Greeks were able to do. To 
them the Muses gave that intuitive appreciation of every form 
in sculpture and poetic art, that unexaggerated and unexagger- 
ating sense of the true and the beautiful of every kind, which 
could not even be disguised in philosophy and gave their shortest 
pedagogic maxims, their slightest symbols such a well defined 
outline, such an impressive grace, as we seek in vain among any 
other people. Their horizon is of course limited ; it extends but 
a little beyond the present life which to them constituted the 
main object of existence. But from this point of view, how 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 49 

wonderfully clear was their vision, how humanely they ap- 
preciated every form! How beautifully they clothed the 
language of their statuary and literature! No nation has 
equalled them in this respect, to say nothing of surpassing them, 
so that it must be regarded a distinct loss to humanity when 
their philosophy and symbolism, their poetry and language was 
driven from the earth and banished from the sight of youth. 
I can see no substitute for them." And finally permit me to 
refer to one more passage bearing on this point in the school 
addresses. In his funeral oration on director Heinze, Herder 
eulogizes the departed " as the broad-minded, sweet-tempered 
philosophic spirit, such as could be nurtured and inspired only 
by a study of the ancients," and in his address on " The Correct 
Conception of the Fine Arts " he says : " These ancient pro- 
genitors of the discipline of the human mind therefore stand 
before us as the eternal types of correct, good and cultured taste 
and the most beautiful finish in the use of language. We must 
form our mode of thought and writing after theirs, and if we 
would be useful to mankind, we must construct our reason and 
language after their pattern." 

Herder's idea and purpose is therefore clear. Humanity is 
the ideal of mankind and all education must be based upon it. 
The education of all the spiritual powers from within in order 
that they may evolve a complete, harmonious personality. And 
the study of the ancients, especially the Greeks, is an approved 
and certain means to this end. It is not intended however that 
we imitate the Greeks, but rather be filled with their spirit in 
order thereby to quicken our own. Herder is really insisting on 
the same thing as the most enthusiastic among modern advo- 
cates of antiquity, Th. Zielinski, in his excellent book: The 
Ancients and We cast into the phrase, " Not norm, but seed." 
We are to contemplate the artistic products of the Greeks so as 
to comprehend from them the nature and beauty of the human 
form. We are to study their poets and philosophers to quicken 
the powers within us which bring to perfection the desire and the 
capacity to be men and nothing but men. 

It is in the same spirit that Goethe, Schiller and William 
von Humboldt would bring a new Greece to birth in which 
everything noble and aspiring in man should be fostered, de- 
veloped and recognized. Complete personality is the goal, ab- 



50 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

sorption in the Greek spirit is the way. Schiller emphasizes 
above all else the aesthetic education of man. According to 
him it is play and the art which results therefrom that de- 
velops manhood in man; that distinguishes him from animals 
and the Deity. He regards the Greek ideas of the gods the 
prototypes of the aesthetically happy man, whom the pure joy 
of art is capable of refining to true spiritual freedom. Goethe's 
ingenious versatility, his exceptionally rich and creative person- 
ality, his profound interest in natural science, his method of 
thoroughly mastering everything he undertook and making it a 
part of himself, permits him to see in the Greeks not only the 
aesthetic, but rather the organic, the things in their nature 
which bear on life. " Man may accomplish much," observes 
Goethe, " by an intelligent use of individual powers, he may 
accomplish the extraordinary by a combination of several tal- 
ents, but he produces the unique and wholly unexpected only 
by uniformly uniting within himself all the human attributes. 
The last was the lot of the ancients, especially the Greeks in 
their palmiest days" In Greek sculpture and poetry he espe- 
cially prizes the " immediate intuition of the objective and the 
subjective world." " It's clearness of conception, serenity of 
appropriation, ease of communication that enchants us, and 
when we say therefore that we find all of these in the genuine 
Greek works, and indeed accomplished in connection with the 
sublimest subject matter, the most noteworthy content, together 
with accurate and complete elaboration, it will be understood 
why we make this our starting-point and in the end always 
return thither again. Everyone is a Greek in his own way, but 
let him be one in fact" 

Neohumanism, which means, as we now are aware, aiming at 
complete and pure personality through absorption in the Greek 
spirit, is most fully developed and most thoroughly system- 
atized by William von Humboldt. William von Humboldt 
construed the idea of humanity so as to comprehend a theory 
of the universe and of life, so as to involve a philosophy of hu- 
manity. Edward Spranger has brought out this fact both im- 
pressively and instructively in his book on William v. Hum- 
boldt and the Idea of Humanity." (Berlin, 1909.) His Will- 
helm V. Humjboldt and Educational Reform furnishes a splen- 
did supplement. Inasmuch as I refer the reader, who cares to 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 51 

make a deeper study of William v. Humboldt, to these works, 
I shall at present describe the characteristic principles of the first 
mentioned work to which the citations likewise refer. 

William v. Humboldt's aim from the start is directed to- 
wards intensive and extensive self-education. This is shown 
by his early dismissal from public office upon which he had 
entered at the age of twenty-five. This dismissal, Spranger 
quite correctly observes (p. 46), is his first decisive, personal 
avowal of the idea of humanity. We see how seriously he 
regarded the matter from the reference he makes to it in writing 
to his betrothed : ^' It then dawned on me for the first time, 
that after all the only thing of actual value consists of what 
man is in himself." — " My vocation appeared to be that of 
finding the way which would lead me, me alone, to the highest 
goal." — " I afterwards found that there Is another criterion 
of the good, even of that which man does, and I became firmly 
and unshakably convinced of the truth, often vaguely felt but 
rarely clearly elaborated, that man inevitably does just as much 
good as he becomes good in himself." (Spranger, 46 f.) Ac- 
cording to Humboldt, however, self-education means first of 
all an extensive acquaintance with men, a comprehensive knowl- 
edge of everything that transpires within man. " I once had 
the fixed idea," he writes even at the age of fifty-six, " that 
before we depart the present life we must understand and 
appropriate as many subjective human phenomena as possible 
— and it is for these alone that I have a correct sense of appre- 
ciation, since everything else only produces a passing effect." 
Thus the Individualistic principle involved In the effort at 
self-education expands to unlversalism, which would appropriate 
everj^thlng human, develop every phase of the individual ego 
and enlarge this individual self to the humanity-ego. 

Like Herder, Humboldt is at first chiefly Interested In psy- 
chology and aesthetics. His Intimate association with Goethe, 
Schiller and Korner furnishes him an opportunity to elaborate 
his esthetic Ideas more thoroughly, as Is evident from his es- 
say on Hermann and Dorothea. But the serious study of 
Kant and Fichte gradually Impresses him with the ethical ele- 
ment of the idea of humanity. Man as an end In himself, 
personal worth and autonomy resting wholly on our subjective 
nature show a tendency to deepen his concept of humanity. 



52 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

Under the influence of Schelling he came to a more profound 
understanding of the relation of mind and nature which gives 
rise to the organic-cosmic interpretation of his idea of humanity, 
in which however the subjective, i. e., the spiritual man still 
remains dominant. " Everything spiritual in man consists in 
the self-appropriation of the world, the transmutation to idea 
and the realization of the idea in the same world to which its 
materials belong, and the energy and mode by which this takes 
place is simply changed by objective conditions, not created or 
determined." 

It is a well known fact that it is largely owing to the found- 
ing of the University of Berlin and the principles of school 
organization put into operation by Humboldt during the brief 
period of his official incumbency as minister of education that 
his idea of humanity controlled the neohumanistic gymnasium 
for several decades. Unity and consistency constitute the na- 
ture of mind and education, instruction, in short, the whole 
of education must be conducted accordingly. He has ex- 
pressed this idea very forcefully in a recently discovered letter 
to Schiller of Feb. 13, 1796, lately published in the Deutschen 
Rundschau : " The sum total of knowledge (in its most com- 
prehensive sense) must serve the single purpose of furnishing 
the mind with objects for its exercise and the refinement of its 
powers. I for one can conceive of no other ultimate end of 
knowledge and education. Knowledge is so constituted that it 
reacts on the mind which has produced it, and the two must 
constantly remain in interaction. This will be active and salu- 
tary in the proportion in which knowledge is homogeneous with 
mind, and since this can only pertain to its form, it must follow 
that the direct importance and value of knowledge lies in its 
form alone. The subject matter deserves attention only in so 
far as the form would be inconceivable without it and the latter 
necessarily increases both in definiteness and effectiveness with 
the quantity of well elaborated material. The most essential 
attribute of mind is unity in the organic efficiency of all its 
powers. If therefore the sum-total of knowledge is to be 
homogeneous with mind it must possess the qualities of com- 
pleteness, consistency and unity. This is the general principle 
in which all educated minds must be exactly alike and upon 
which the possibility of their agreement rests. This however 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 53 

implies more than that the mere knowledge and abilities of men 
must constitute a whole, they must not merely constitute a 
whole in a general way, but at the same time such a whole 
as corresponds with respect to form to that whole of which all 
knowledge consists. That is to say that every object of knowl- 
edge bears a twofold relation, one to the whole body of knowl- 
edge and another to the mind itself. The scholar should at 
least understand all these relations, although he is at the same 
time far from requiring the possession of the objects to which 
these relations appertain. The matter of primary importance 
therefore is to set up the business, the whole, the sphere, which 
is completely general, and secondly to determine the several 
viewpoints from which the whole is possible. For we must 
always aim to interpret the whole field of knowledge from some 
definite point of view. This is the only way to avoid narrow- 
ness and insipidity." 

This analysis clearly reveals the way in which the conception 
of general education subjectively considered (biological) is con- 
strued, and to what extent the neohumanists placed the stress 
not on the imparting of information, but on inspiring the mental 
powers. But it likewise reveals the beginning of the transi- 
tion to the formal conception of education which later de- 
veloped so narrowly, after the idea of humanity had lost its 
force. It is for this reason that I have given Humboldt's view 
as developed in his correspondence in such detail. 

Humboldt's idea of humanity and his ideal of education are 
permeated through and through and supported by his enthusi- 
asm for Greek civilization. In his case this enthusiasm rests 
on comprehensive, thorough and profound philological and 
historical studies. Heyne introduced him to the study of an- 
tiquities and his intimate friendship with the philologist, F. A. 
Wolf, continued for so many years, kept alive his interest in 
the strictly philological treatment of the Greeks. Although it 
was chiefly the philological, historical as well as the aesthetic 
interest that at first attracted him to the Greeks, the idea that 
the Greeks are a unique phenomenon in the history of the world 
and that they reveal the beauty and completeness of humanity is 
nevertheless combined with it even at this stage of his develop- 
ment. As early as 1796 therefore he regarded the study of 
the Greeks as the most valuable as well as the most effective 



54 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

instrument of human education. In that year he writes : " I 
therefore proceed to make clear to myself in an essay of my own 
the reason why the study of the ancients as such and without 
any special interest in this special department, deserves a man's 
time and attention for its intrinsic merit. It seems to me that 
these reasons have been correctly appreciated hitherto (for 
natural impulses rarely deceive, and without them we would 
scarcely have sacrificed life-times to this otherwise worthless 
plunder), but not so clearly analysed." (Spranger, 457.) 
Humboldt's wide acquaintance with Greek literature repeatedly 
convinced him that the productions of the Greek mind do not all 
manifest the same power and that not everything among the 
Greeks corresponded with this ideal. But he deliberately con- 
strues a unity and an ideal out of the Greek spirit, just because he 
intentionally did not regard them purely from the historical 
point of YiQw. " One spirit pervades all Greek poetry without 
distinction of the character or age. The divergences are insig- 
nificant and we may disregard them when speaking of Greek 
character from the viewpoint of criticism and aesthetics rather 
than historically." (Spranger, 468.) "We evidently regard 
antiquity more idealistically than it was, and we should do so,^ 
since by its form and its relation to us we are forced to expect 
ideas and effects which transcend the ideas which constitute our 
environment." (Spranger, 487.) Humboldt therefore also 
regards such poetic productions as Euripides as un-Greek, for 
the same reasons that the Hellenism of the Alexandrian period 
represented a decline of the Greek spirit. 

This idealized conception constantly assumes a more definite 
form in Humboldt's mind. The influence of the Romanticists, 
especially Schelling, impels Humboldt to undertake to deduce 
the character of the Greek spirit from metaphysical principles. 
Through the elaboration of the categories of the organic and 
the symbolic, the Greek spirit seems to him more and more 
the expression of the pure idea of humanity. " Everything is 
so completely transformed in the hands of the Greeks, all 
things sensible are among them so charged with a breath of the 
divine, the same breath which we feel in their language; for 
it symbolizes the genuine Greek type as nothing else can. It 
not only gives the Greek type sensible form however, but the 

^ Impossible to me. 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 55 

productions of the Greek mind gave rise at the same time to 
the most delicate, the most pure and the most complete symbol of 
humanity, and thus became the creator and prototype of hu- 
manity in general. The vital impulse actuating the Greeks is 
nothing less than to be pure and complete personalities and to en- 
joy the full serenity of personal existence. Owing to the fact 
that they outlived their original impulse, followed their merely 
natural instincts, they were therefore destined by fate to ad- 
vance the evolution of humanity." 

Humboldt cherished tlie idea that the Germans above all 
others were fitted to give the Greek ideal of humanity a fur- 
ther development and adapt it to the thought and sentiment of 
the modern world. This therefore establishes the conviction 
that engrafting the Greek spirit in the German would result 
beneficently, if humanity should again enter the course of 
progress without let or hindrance.^ 

It is therefore evidently an idealized Greek spirit that is 
here advocated as the source of general human education. This 
ideal, as Wilamowitz has correctly contended, was ruined by 
the philology of the nineteenth century. But that idealized 
Greek spirit has inspired sublime and noble powers among the 
German people, and we may well question whether the his- 
torically better known and more consistent account which schol- 
arship furnishes us to-day is capable of accomplishing as much 
for German youth as the Greece of Schiller, Goethe and Wil- 
liam V. Humboldt really has accomplished. 

Through the introduction of W. v. Humboldt the philolo- 
gist, F. A. Wolf, eventually came into touch with the Weimar 
group, among whom the new ideal of education was not only 
cultivated sesthetically, but likewise theoretically systematized 
by the Jena philosophers, Fichte, Schelling and Hegel. Wolf 
was an out and out philologist. When he went to Gottingen as 
a student in 1777, he insisted independently, notwithstanding 
the vigorous opposition of Heyne, on matriculating as a student 
of philology rather than of theology, as was customary at that 
time. During the twenty-three years of his professorship at 
Halle ( 1 787-1810) Wolf accomplished truly wonderful re- 
sults. He developed " Antiquities " to an independent science 

1 These latter ideas are taken from a letter written in French to 
Schweighauser. 



56 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

and likewise became the organizer of the neohumanistic Gymna- 
sium. Full of enthusiasm for the new ideal of education, Wolf 
was thoroughly saturated with the idea that a thorough and 
self-elaborated intelligent understanding of classical antiquity 
furnishes the surest, in fact the only method to profound knowl- 
edge and to real education. But this method involves a thor- 
ough study of both classical languages. Wolf is therefore, both 
by the wealth of his philological knowledge and philosophical 
orientation, specially well prepared to give a correct estimate 
of the elements of education involved in the study of the lan- 
guages. He repeatedly refers to the fact with emphasis, that 
the ancient languages contain far more such formal elements of 
education than the modern. Paulsen quotes a number of such 
expressions from Wolf of which we here add a few. " Lan- 
guages, the first artistic products of the human mind, contain 
a complete stock of the general ideas and forms of our thought at- 
tained and developed in and through the progress of knowledge. 
It is by the knowledge and thorough examination of the differ- 
ing forms of expression in several languages that we first begin 
to get our bearings in the realm of intellect and learn to better 
understand and use its accumulated stores, because of the fact 
that the variety of modifications of similar fundamental ideas 
force us to recognize the points of dissimilarity which appear 
in them. This comparison of words and forms of expression 
therefore does not merely furnish us with a store of many simi- 
lar symbols, but provides us with an actual enrichment of 
means for the explanation and construction of our ideas which is 
attainable in no other way." " The language of a people must 
necessarily furnish us unaccustomed views of things, new ideas 
and modifications of thought in proportion as their mode of 
thought, conduct and life differs from and conflicts with ours. 
This is proven by the ease with which we to-day learn three 
languages of our neighbors as readily as one of the ancient lan- 
guages, because, as we might almost say, a kind of neo-European- 
ism has combined them under a single idiom. But this greater 
difficulty of an ancient language, which carries us into a strange 
realm of ideas and points of view, likewise rewards our labor 
correspondingly." (Paulsen II, 213.) 

Even though Wolf did not lay the chief stress on this lin- 
guistic discipline, but referred to the whole of antiquity, the 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 57 

" organic education " of the Greeks, nevertheless the reversal of 
the splendid and profound program of education of our classicists 
was brought about by him. This tendency gradually becomes 
clearer, more deliberate and more narrow among Wolf's disciples 
of the first and second generation. The maxim of " formal 
education " becomes ever more frequent. It is intended to 
imply a purely intellectual discipline of the mind by means of 
the analysis of linguistic forms. The idealistic philosophy which 
esteems abstract thought far above sense perception, was favor- 
able to this tendency and Fichte, Schelling and Hegel are the 
most vigorous and ardent advocates of the classical education 
which had become philological. The fact that Latin, which 
had receded somewhat into the background at the first enthusi- 
asm for the Greek, again came into prominence during the 
twenties of the nineteenth century is likewise characteristic of 
the turn from the universal human to the merely formal. 
(Paulsen II, 324.) Latin style and an intensive study of 
grammar therefore constituted the most important part of 
" humanistic " studies. Paulsen relates the fact, in his Youth- 
ful Reminiscences that he was admitted to Untersecunda in the 
Altona Gymnasium at Easter, 1863, on the basis of a success- 
ful translation into Latin. He further observes : *' The writ- 
ing of Latin dominated the whole educational system so com- 
pletely that there were no examinations in other branches. 
It would be incorrect to assert that lectures on the ancient 
classics were neglected on account of the instruction in gram- 
mar and style. Rather the contrary. In many institutions 
there was indeed considerable attention given to the Greek au- 
thors. But the aim was no longer a balanced personality, but 
formal discipline. Herder's comprehensive and profound ideal 
of humanity had become narrowed down to classical philology." 
Far be it from us to ascribe slight value to such formal 
discipline of the mind as that resulting from an intensive drill 
in the classic languages. This kind of discipline of the intellect 
will retain its value as an important element of general educa- 
tion for a long time to come. But even the most pronounced 
and most vigorous advocate of the humanistic gymnasium will 
no longer care to affirm that the philological pursuit of the 
classical languages is really adapted to quicken all the spiritual 
and mental powers and furnish an actually general education in 



58 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

the biologico-psychological sense of the term. The demand for 
new elements of education therefore became and still becomes 
more insistent. We want the modern languages, we want 
history and geography, and we especially insist, and justifiably 
so, on a thorough acquaintance with mathematics and the 
natural sciences. New institutions arise which devote more 
attention to practical needs, and, since the Prussian code of 
1900 places the three kinds of secondary schools of north Ger- 
many having nine-year courses, on the same level so far as en- 
trance to university is concerned, the general education offered 
by the German secondary schools has again assumed the en- 
cyclopedic character. Otto Willmann has very pointedly de- 
scribed the difficulty with our educational policy on this point. 
In the latest edition of his Didactics he speaks of it as fol- 
lows (276) : "The weakness of our courses of study lies in 
the unsystematic amalgamation of ancient with modern sub- 
ject matter. They have come into being through a cumulative 
process rather than by organic development, and have even 
ruthlessly separated matters vitally related for no better rea- 
son than a pedantic desire for division and a false effort at 
consistency. By attending to each particular element of edu- 
cation, its unity has been neglected. Instead of giving the in- 
ternal structure a firm foundation in a well-organized whole 
of systematically related facts and intelligent capacities, in or- 
der to collect and arrange the confused mass of suggestions and 
advices, as they occur in the course of a public life affected by 
intelligence, our education has fallen a victim of multiplicity and 
permitted polymathyj which has its unquestioned value as a 
peripheral element of education, to occupy the central position." 
The brief historical sketch, outlined above reveals the follow- 
ing: Our classicists, especially Herder, formulated an ideal 
of education which was both comprehensive and consistent and 
described a method of deducing a pedagogically and didactically 
effective concept of general education on a biologico-psychologi- 
cal basis. Due to a variety of causes, which we cannot even 
mention in detail, it has hitherto been impossible to realize the 
suggestions of Herder in his own sense. We have rather re- 
turned to the ancient encyclopedic conception by way of formal 
discipline. Here it is therefore necessary to effect a change. 
Encyclopedic education cannot and must not remain the edu- 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 59 

cational aim of the secondary school. This must of necessity 
lead to dissipation of energy, superficiality. And even more 
than this it must lead to an overburdening of courses. We 
must introduce unity into this variety. This will succeed most 
readily and most certainly by a return to the educational ideal 
of our classicists and aim to develop and formulate them on the 
basis of the later knowledge of the principles of biology, psy- 
chology and sociology, so as to harmonize with the demands of 
the present time. 

3. The Theory of General Education 
Constructive Synthesis 

According to the biologico-psychological conception of our 
theory which forms the basis of the educational ideal of our 
classicists, especially Herder, the term " general," as previously 
observed, means an all-round development of the functions 
found in the human organism. The term " education " fur- 
thermore implies that this development must proceed organically, 
a growth from within. The first concern of the educator and 
teacher to whom is committed the difficult and responsible task 
of developing the potential powers of the pupil, must therefore 
be to discover what powers are hidden in the human organism. 
He must strive to acquaint himself with the most important 
functional combinations in order that he may first of all elim- 
inate those upon the exercise and development of which he 
can have but little influence from the sphere of his effort and 
concentrate his whole energy upon those functions which re- 
quire the most help. 

Without taking any position on the metaphysical question of 
the relation of body and soul we can nevertheless, wholly 
within the sphere of experience, divide the native functions of 
the human organism into two large classes, the physical and the 
psychical. It is self-evident that mental capacity constitutes 
the most important object of disciplinary effort in general edu- 
cation, but there are likewise some bodily functions with a sig- 
nificance that must not be underestimated. We shall first di- 
rect attention to these. 

First of all, the so-called vegetative processes, such as the 
circulation of the blood, digestion, assimilation and secretion do 



6o Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

not come within the range of educational effort. It is of 
course important for the success of the pupil that these processes 
perform their respective functions normally, but their care be- 
longs to the department of rearing children which Herbart 
calls Care of the Health. The school must not neglect these 
functions, and the present day insistence that the conduct of 
the school be hygienic is fully justified, but no one would 
seriously care to say that we send our children to school in 
order to improve their digestion. These matters are impor- 
tant conditions, but not the subject matter of the problem of 
education. 

On the other hand the motor arrangements of our body, 
and especially deliberate movements, belong tO' the functions 
which require intelligent training and development. Writing, 
drawing, playing the piano constitute a series of deliberate move- 
ments which become effective only through intelligent discipline. 
And there is another factor of still greater importance. The 
long periods of sitting in school tend to arrest the development 
of a number of the motor organs, especially the muscles. We 
have long understood that this condition could not continue 
without harm to the growing organism and tried to counteract 
it by gymnasium drill and games. From our point of view we 
must not only approve this practice, but we must do even more 
than that. We should add extended courses in manual train- 
ing to the gymnasium drill, because it is only by this means 
that we can accomplish a complete general development of the 
body. Gymnastics and manual training must therefore be 
recognized as indispensable elements of general education and 
receive consideration in comparison to their importance. 

There is still a further reason for this which has hitherto 
been largely neglected. Gymnastics and manual training not 
only serve to produce physical development; they strengthen 
and discipline the will in a way that can scarcely be accomplished 
by any other means. We hear much at present about the train- 
ing of the will and we shall likewise return to this point later 
on. But what is generally implied is practice in self-control, 
self-possession ; self-command — briefly put — speaking in physi- 
ological terms — the establishment of an effective inhibitive sys- 
tem. But our pressing need is positive invigoration, an increase 
of vital impulse, a strengthened determination. Gymnastics 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 6l 

and manual training are peculiarly effective in this direction. 
They furnish the pupil with a kind of mastery over his own 
body, give him a sense of power, of ability to do things, of 
security, such as adds vigor and courage to the whole person- 
ality. Gymnastics and manual training are therefore impor- 
tant and very essential elements of general education. 

This brings us to the consideration of the mental functions. 
First of all, permit us to make two general observations. 
Everything psychical is essentially teleological, i. e., directed 
towards an end, and all psychical processes bear a profound and 
vital relation to the preservation of life. I have made this 
teleological and biological conception the basis of my textbook 
in psychology (4 Ed., 1907) and I must refer to it for the 
detailed exposition of this point. But it seems to me very 
important that every teacher should thoroughly acquaint him- 
self with this mode of the interpretation of psychical processes. 
It will enable him better to understand the origin and tendency 
of the psychical dispositions of his pupils and thus be in position 
to institute disciplinary measures accordingly. 

We must observe further that modern psychology has taught 
us to make a sharp distinction between psychical processes and 
psychical dispositions. Psychical processes are the actual spir- 
itual experiences which constitute the fleeting, constantly chang- 
ing content of consciousness at any given moment. But by a 
psychical disposition we mean a relatively persistent and perma- 
nent capacity of the soul to experience certain kinds of psychical 
processes, and eventually to produce them at will. Correspond- 
ing with the primary functions of consciousness to be discussed 
presently and its various stages of development, a large number 
and great variety of dispositions are gradually formed and our 
language has formulated an abundance of descriptive names. 
Thus, e. g., memory represents a group of dispositions which 
enable us to experience memory-images and to reproduce a series 
of ideas and judgments. Knowledge represents a group of ac- 
quired judgment-dispositions. 

We may therefore say that the whole problem of education 
consists of the higher development of the innate dispositions of 
the pupil and to aid in the acquisition of new dispositions. The 
aim of instruction is not the production of momentary processes, 
but permanent dispositions. The processes excited in the minds 



62 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

of the pupils by means of instruction are not ends per se, but 
simply the means for the production of permanent dispositions. 
Descriptively speaking, a general education represents a number 
of acquired dispositions and our problem consists in coming to 
a clear understanding of the nature of the dispositions to be 
produced both as a class and individually. 

This requires, as previously observed, a comprehensive under- 
standing of the psychical processes. We can accomplish this 
most readily for our purposes by making Jodl's division ac- 
cording to the primary functions and stages of development our 
starting point. I have likewise follov/ed his division in my 
textbook. We accordingly distinguish three primary functions 
of consciousness, which I am disposed to call, knowledge^ feeling 
and will. These three primary functions are very easily dis- 
tinguished conceptually, but they cannot actually be separated. 
All three cooperate in every actually experienced mental process 
and we describe a psychical act as an act of knowledge, feeling 
or will only in the sense that one of the fundamental functions 
has dominated it. The nature of the soul has therefore pre- 
scribed both the method and the aim of the educational problem. 
If general education constitutes this result, it must follow that 
none of these fundamental functions dare be given preference 
at the expense of the others. All must rather have the chance 
of exercise and they should all be trained to harmonious co- 
operation. We shall therefore show very briefly what kind of 
educational effort is adapted to each of these primary functions. 

In the primary function of knowledge the stages of develop- 
ment as described by Jodl are most readily distinguished. The 
primary stage involves sensation and perception, the secondary 
ideation and the third linguistically formulated, conceptual 
thought. Educational effort will always be most effective and 
most intensive in these primary functions because the direction 
and activity is most easily and most definitely influenced and 
determined by the presentation of new material. The educa- 
tional problem here applies almost exclusively to the two higher 
stages, i. e., therefore to the ideational and the conceptual. 
What is generally described as training in sense perception is 
never exclusively or even chiefly a further development of the 
sensory or perceptual apparatus, but always a guidance to a 
many-sided and correct interpretation of sense-impressions and 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 63 

this interpretation consists in effecting an association of ideas 
and in the development of the function of judgment. The 
value of instruction in sense perception lies in the fact that 
strong sensory impressions are better adapted to stimulate and 
develop the ideational and intellectual processes than it is pos- 
sible to do with words. 

The question arises therefore in what manner and to what 
degree the school, and especially the secondary school, is called 
upon to develop the function of knowledge. Or, to put it 
differently, what degree of intellectual discipline is involved in 
general education. The public school lays the foundation for 
a further development of the intellect first of all by the fact 
that furnishes the children with the conditions and possibility 
of further education by teaching them to read and write. The 
child learns to read in order to gain access to the thoughts of 
others, and it learns to write for the purpose of imparting its 
own ideas to others. Instruction in reading and writing how- 
ever is not a discipline of the intellectual functions, it merely 
provides the possibility of doing this. The educational task 
has no bearing on the intellectual function of the child until 
the subject matter read is treated from the viewpoint of lin- 
guistic construction and matters of fact. Arithmetic brings into 
play another very important factor. It is the business of the 
elementary school therefore to furnish the elements of intel- 
lectual education so as to meet the most general and important 
demands of practical life and the needs of the state. It is a 
matter of history however that general compulsory education 
was established chiefly from military and economic motives. 
Every citizen is to be fitted for the ordinary business of life 
and every male citizen is to be intellectually fitted for military 
service. If the elementary school by its thorough instruction in 
facts accomplishes more for its pupils than the minimum needs 
of practical life require, it must be a matter of rejoicing to 
every friend of childhood. But we must nevertheless observe 
that it can undertake this higher aim only on condition that the 
absolute certainty in the application of the elements of educa- 
tion does not suffer. For the first and most important aim of 
the elementary school is nevertheless concerned with the prac- 
tical utility of the intellectual discipline which it furnishes. 
It must confine itself to what is unconditionally necessary, the 



64 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

elements. 

How then may we the most clearly and most intelligibly de- 
scribe the more intensive discipline of the intellect which is 
justly expected and demanded of the secondary school? How 
may we best characterize what is called the advanced general 
education, in so far as it pertains to the intellect? In the 
heyday of neohumanism men presumed to find the real value of 
education — especially the classical education — in the veiy fact 
of its separation from everything practical, in the complete ig- 
noring and disregarding of everything useful. (Paulsen H, 
215.) The discipline of the mind was to be regarded abso- 
lutely as an ideal end in itself. But we can no longer main- 
tain this negative position. It follows with inevitable certi- 
tude from the teleological bearing of all things psychical, that 
all intellectual discipline must of necessity react on our actions, 
on our conduct, on our character. Furthermore if we reflect 
on the fact that general education consists of a group of social 
requirements, we will no longer be able to say that the aim of 
elementary education is practical, but that that of the so-called 
higher education has nothing to do with such matters. We 
must rather maintain with rigid consistency that all education as 
well as all science proceeds from practical needs and that its 
ultimate and highest aim must be to enhance life, i. e., be prac- 
tical in the broadest sense of the term. We must therefore 
look somewhere else for the distinction between the elementary 
and higher discipline of the intellect. 

Elementary education aims at the immediate utility of the 
knowledge and skill required, whilst the more intensive intel- 
lectual discipline deliberately takes an apparently indirect course 
and fixes its attention, not on the immediate, but merely on 
the indirect application of the acquired discipline. This indi- 
rect course consists in the fact that we lead the pupil from the 
prescientific to the scientific stage of thought. We are thus 
leading the pupils along the same course which the human race 
has taken. Man has made a large number of discoveries and 
inventions on the level of pre-scientific thought, instinctively so 
to speak. But the evolution of higher civilization begins only 
where definite, persistent effort is applied to the investigation 
of nature and the human soul, i. e., where science begins. The 
chief distinction between scientific and pre-scientific thought 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 65 

consists in the fact that the former subjects experience to a 
more thorough analysis. In this way it is often possible to dis- 
cover new relations and principles in experience-complexes 
which are objectively very different but alike in their elementary 
processes. The various sciences have in the course of time 
elaborated their own method of procedure and invented a 
large number of new instruments of thought. These instru- 
ments of thought on the one hand enable us to grasp a larger 
number of experiences in a single act of thought, and on the 
other to discover and express finer and more subtle distinctions. 
It is this familiarity with these instruments of thought dis- 
covered by science especially that characterizes the scientifically 
trained mind and distinguishes it from those on a lower plane. 

Anyone occupying a responsible position in the social or- 
ganism to-day must equip himself with scientific method. We 
may therefore say that the higher class of society, intellectually 
considered, demands a scientific education of all who would 
join its ranks, — i. e., familiarity with the most important sci- 
entific instruments of thought. It follows therefore that gen- 
eral education, so far as it concerns the intellectual phase, is 
nothing more than scientific education. 

Looking at the prescribed course and methods of instruction 
pursued at our secondary schools from this point of view, we 
must conclude that the most general and most characteristic 
aspect of every subject consists in the fact that the pupils are 
led from the pre-scientific plane of thought to the scientific 
method of doing things. Everywhere they are taught to analyse 
experience and in every subject they are familiarized with a 
splendid array of scientific instruments. In many subjects this 
latter feature indeed constitutes a very essential, if not the 
essential part of the instruction. What are signs of equality, 
brackets, powers, roots, logarithms, systems of coordinates, 
equation of curves, function, but instruments of thought created 
by mathematics. And hasn't instruction accomplished some- 
thing worth while when it has enabled the pupil to comprehend 
the significance and use of those instruments of thought in all 
their breadth and depth? Force and energy, atom and mole- 
cule, chemical element and chemical affinity, velocity, accelera- 
tion, moment of inertia, electron, potential, again are thought 
instruments of physics and here also much has certainly been 



66 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

gained if the pupils have learned to use these instruments 
correctly. 

And the same thing holds true of instruction in philological 
and historical subjects. In this case linguistic forms are an- 
alysed — frequently to satiety — not only with a view to a 
deeper and more thorough understanding of the instruments 
prevailing in the elementary school such as subject, predicate, 
attribute, object, adverbial relation, but new and more com- 
plicated philological instruments are introduced and practiced, 
such as, e.g., hypothetical period, relative dependence, potential 
mode, &c. After we have once put all philological instruction 
on a psychological basis, as I have contended for more than 
twenty years, we will here discover analyses still more pro- 
found and thought instruments of still greater effectiveness. 

The intellectual discipline which the pupil receives in the 
secondary school therefore is nothing more than an introduc- 
tion into the scientific method of interpretation, or more briefly 
expressed, scientific training. The subjects and methods which 
are best adapted to this end will engage us farther on. At 
present it must suffice to describe precisely and clearly what con- 
stitutes the phase of general education which is concerned in the 
development of the intellectual functions. And here we can 
therefore say briefly and definitely; so far as it concerns the 
intellectual functions, general education is scientific training. 

This brings us to the primary function of feeling. We must 
here note with all emphasis, as suggested above, that the three 
primary functions never function independently of one another. 
And the feelings are in fact the least independent of them all. 
Especially is it true of those feelings which lend themselves 
most readily to development and differentiation, that it is only 
by means of ideas and judgments that they can be selected, i. e., 
through the cooperation of the intellectual functions. Hence, 
in discussing the education of the feelings, with a view to get- 
ting clear as to the kind and method, reference must always be 
made to the intellectual element involved in it. 

In my textbook of psychology I have shown the vital bearing 
of the feelings on the preservation of life, and on this basis 
classified the feelings from the biological viewpoint. This 
method required me to distinguish a peculiar class of feelings 
which have barely been recognized hitherto. It consists of 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 67 

those feelings which have their ground in functional needs of 
our physical and psychical organism and which I would briefly 
describe as functional feelings. There is a sense in which 
every arrangement or function with which the human organ- 
ism is provided has a propensity towards activity and the satis- 
faction of this need gives rise to a peculiar feeling of pleasure, 
for which I have suggested the term ** functional pleasure." I 
think I may therefore say that all education of the feelings, in 
so far as intelligent guidance is possible and necessary consists 
in developing and differentiating definite kinds of functional 
pleasure. 

A correct methodical' division of instruction will itself in- 
spire a very important kind of functional pleasure. I refer 
to what is popularly called interest. From the psychological 
point of view theoretical interest is nothing more than joy in 
the successful exercise of our understanding. We shall show 
farther on, that the matter of inspiring interest must necessarily 
be the first and most important principle of instruction in the 
secondary school. The joy in one's own individual mental 
activity is so far as education is concerned merely a means 
of securing the object of instruction, i. e., of producing the requi- 
site intellectual dispositions. Knowledge can affect the human 
mind, produce the state of mind above described as scientific 
education, only as it proceeds from within by means of the 
spontaneous activity of the pupil. Even Plato observed: 
" The freeman shall never be required to acquire knowledge 
under conditions of servile coercing for the body does not lose 
efficiency through coercion, but no knowledge abides in the 
soul which was forced upon it " {^vxfj Se f^iaiov ovSev efi^ovov 
/xaOrjfxa, Rep. 536 E.). Inspiring interest however is not merely 
a means, but likewise an end. The joy of individual intellectual 
activity excited and guided in various directions by instruction, 
i. e., differentiated and enriched, likewise creates new disposi- 
tions of feeling. Even Herbart described the many-sidedness 
of interest as the aim of all instruction. 

The most important form of functional pleasure admitting 
and requiring discpline is that which we find in aesthetic satis- 
faction. In my Introduction to Philosophy (Eng. Trans, 
p. 196) I have endeavored to show that aesthetic satisfaction is 
nothing more than the functional pleasure arising from con- 



68 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

templation ( Introduction, p. 2 1 3 f . ) . From this definition of the 
concept it inevitably follows that aesthetic satisfaction, the rudi- 
ments of which must certainly be present in everyone, may be 
greatly increased, enriched and refined by intelligent guidance. 
Philological instruction is peculiarly adapted to this purpose 
and in fact both in native and foreign languages. The inter- 
pretation of the poets, in case the teacher possesses broad in- 
formation, intensive psychological training and esthetic appre- 
ciation, can arouse the sense of poetic beauty and develop the 
indefinite impression which the first presentation of a great 
production makes on the pupil, to an appreciative satisfaction 
and a purer and richer joy. Historical instruction further- 
more furnishes occasion to interpret the works of constructive 
art, whilst arithmetic may develop the capacity of conceiving 
artistic forms. Schiller has also shown in his letters on aesthetic 
education and even more forcefully in his poem Ideal and 
Life, that the aesthetic situation develops the purely personal 
powers in man and that man only attains to complete person- 
ality after he is capable of esthetic satisfaction. The pure joy 
in the beautiful elevates man to spiritual freedom and the re- 
alization of the highest attainments. ^Esthetic training is 
therefore one of the most important parts of general education 
and it is likewise historically one of the oldest and most con- 
stant elements of the same. Society justly insists that all who 
belong to the more highly educated class be trained aesthetically, 
in fact it must aim to develop the appreciation of the beautiful 
and of art as widely as possible. The art-inspiring efforts of 
our age such as the concerts and readings at our public social 
gatherings are of high cultural value. The advanced school 
dare not neglect this element at any cost. We may even say 
that the dissemination of aesthetic education constitutes one of 
its most important problems. The primary function of con- 
sciousness which we have designated the feelings is therefore 
most effectively and beneficently developed and enriched by 
aesthetic training. 

So far as concerns the will, no one doubts any longer that the 
will is capable of and needs training. Herbart treats this 
phase of education in the chapter on discipline and in ordinary 
life, as observed above, the training of the will generally means 
chiefly discipline, control, in short the restraint of the will. 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 69 

But at present we require a more positive training of the will, 
consisting of the accumulation of new impulses and motives. 
The aim we must strive to realize is the invigoration, regula- 
tion and enlargement of the will in adaptation to the tasks of 
the age. 

The invigoration of the will, as indicated above, is realized 
first of all by means of systematic physical exercise. Hardening 
the bodies of the pupils, giving them control of the motor ar- 
rangements, invigorates their will, increases social efficiency and 
at the same time opens to them an unfailing source of rich 
functional pleasure. 

The regulation of the will is best attained by habituation to 
work. We shall see farther on that together with the de- 
velopment of interest habituation to work constitutes the most 
important pedagogic principle of the secondary school. At 
present however we are concerned with its value in volitional 
discipline. We may therefore say that habituation to regu- 
larity in work produces volitional dispositions v/hich increase 
the social efficiency of the pupil to an extraordinary degree. 
But such habituation is likewise profitable to the individual 
from the simple fact that anyone who is accustomed to work, 
as experience shows and necessarily, will overcome the most 
difficult obstacles more easily. And in addition to this it opens 
a rich source of functional pleasure. 

The enlargement of the will consists first of all in the fact 
l(hat the pupil gradually learns to set up more remote ideals. 
The progress of civilization is based on the fact that man not 
only provides for the passing day but undertakes projects which 
frequently involve great sacrifices for the time being but prom- 
ise increased wealth and happiness for the future in compen- 
sation. It is fitting in this age that even the youth should be 
trained to this on account of the highly developed civilization 
under which we are living. The school through its method of 
instruction furnishes splendid opportunity for such enlargement 
of the will. I simply refer to the exercises in public speaking 
which require a more extensive elaboration of subject matter 
and a longer time in preparation. I refer to the final exam- 
inations the pedagogic value of which has hitherto been wholly 
neglected. And private reading, especially in the native tongue, 
can likewise be made effective in this respect. And the Intro- 



70 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

duction of a kind of general review examination for the brighter 
and more industrious pupils on their own election can likewise be 
recommended. 

However, we must not only strive to enlarge the will in its 
formal aspect thus far described but likewise more positively as 
respects its content. I have in mind the direction of the will 
towards social afEairs. All of us who dwell in civilized coun- 
tries have been born into a great social organism whose institu- 
tions not only rest on us but are likewise infinitely enriched by 
our presence. We utilize these institutions, such as the mails, 
the telegraph, railroad, schools, museums and such like without 
much thought about it. These things belong to the blessings 
for which, as Schiller has so pointedly observed, " habit and 
unchallenged possession so easily despoil our gratitude." Ac- 
cording to my judgment it is the business of the school to im- 
press the value and significance of these institutions upon the 
mind and thus introduce the will to a new and large field. 
The effort to which we train the pupils, the remoter ideals 
upon which we teach them to train their wills must ultimately 
contribute to the advancement of the social body to which 
each of us belongs. If we were far enough advanced to permit 
the pupils to discover in the school that the individual de- 
velops his powers most effectively and at the same time most 
pleasantly and that he becomes a forceful, well-balanced per- 
sonality only as he devotes his energies to some important social 
problem, we would then approach the ideal of will-training very 
closely. This kind of training may best be fostered through 
school organizations such as exist in America in large variety 
and very extensively, whilst we have simply made a beginning. 
(Cf. Scott, Social Education, 1909.) 

The training of the function of will is intended to create the 
dispositions which may be described as the ethico-social sense. 
We may therefore describe that part of general education which 
pertains to the primary fuctlon of will, i.e., the invigoration, 
regulation and enlargement of the will, as ethico-social edu- 
cation. 

This would complete the psychological foundation of gen- 
eral education. Scientific, aesthetic and ethico-social education 
constitute its essential elements. The creation of these psychi- 
cal dispositions is the didactic and pedagogic problem at pres- 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 71 

ent clearly evident on every hand. Nevertheless since all these 
dispositions are to be systematically organized and all education 
is at the same time to be consistent, w^ell-balanced and socially 
useful, we must add a vv^ord concerning the subjective rela- 
tion of the three primary functions of consciousness and the 
unity of personality. 

The older psychology, particularly the Herbartian, which 
still forms the psychological basis of pedagogic and didactic the- 
ory in our teachers' seminaries, is still wholly intellectualistic. 
The ideational process is regarded as the primary, original prop- 
erty of the soul, whilst feeling and effort are regarded as derived 
states and interactions of ideas. Modern psychology is now in 
process of completely inverting this order of relation. The con- 
viction is constantly gaining ground that the feelings and im- 
pulses are the most original and primary activities of the psychi- 
cal and that ideation and reflection are simply built upon them. 
The sublime conception of Schopenhauer, that the will has 
created the intellect for its own ends, has been remarkably 
supported by the theory of evolution, sociology and the study 
of primitive races and children. Primitive races and children 
are moved to reflection only through intense feeling and always 
in connection with very definite and immediate ends. The in- 
tellect is primarily an instrument created by the human impulse 
to self-preservation. As a matter of fact man has not only 
conquered the world with this instrument, but he has even 
created an entirely new world to the enrichment of, his being 
and the enhancement of his worth. " Science," says Mach, 
" has apparently grown out of biological and cultural evolution 
as the most superfluous side-issue. But we can now no longer 
doubt, that it has become the most essential factor both bio- 
logically and culturally." {Knowledge and Error, 2d Ed., 

462.) 

But notwithstanding all this the intellect still remains a super- 
structure. Stone upon stone is added to this structure under 
the illumination of the light of consciousness and the whole 
problem of education in fact apparently consists simply of the 
intelligent construction of such a temple of knowledge. How- 
ever, if this superstructure of knowledge neglects the — I 
should say — vital foundation consisting of dispositions of feel- 
ing and will, the whole arduously constructed establishment 



72 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

consisting of facts is swept to utter ruin like an air-castle at 
the first spiritual upheaval, the first breath of doubt. This con- 
stitutes the profounder meaning of the platonic passage cited 
above, that no knowledge which is forced upon the mind abides. 
This explains why our pupils accomplish such wonders by 
forgetting what they have learned. The ballast is thrown over- 
board, just because it was nothing more than ballast. The 
superstructure falls because it was erected without being suffi- 
ciently anchored in the bedrock of the soul. 

If therefore we aim to make the scientific education which 
we impart to our pupils their permanent possession, and to 
form and enrich their spiritual life, we must see to it that our 
instruction furnishes both inspiration to their feelings and op- 
portunity for invigoration and desirable exercise to their wills. 
Every class period which fails to enlist the interest of the pupils 
and in which they are not inspired to individual effort must 
be regarded as lost. 

I am aware that this makes a large, perhaps too large a de- 
mand on the present generation of teachers. But we must 
nevertheless insist with all emphasis that emotional and voli- 
tional training are not accessory elements of general education, 
which forsooth are important as desirable by-products of intel- 
lectual discipline, but which still fall far below the real prob- 
lem. Every teacher must far rather come to the conviction that 
all his instruction is in vain except as he constantly touches 
the emotional and volitional foundation of general education. 
We have described the emotional and volitional dispositions as 
the sub-soil of the soul. But the teacher cannot proceed after 
the manner of an architect who first lays his foundation and 
then proceeds deliberately to the erection of the superstructure. 
This is impossible on account of the subjective interaction of all 
three primary functions. He must rather work at the founda- 
tion unceasingly and as the knowledge of the pupil advances 
the more securely must he be anchored in correct emotional and 
volitional dispositions and constantly strengthen the foundation. 
We shall have occasion farther on to discuss this problem in 
detail with special reference to the actual practice of instruc- 
tion. 

Scientific, aesthetic and ethico-social education are therefore 
not isolated parts, but vitally related attributes of the concept 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 73 

of general education, as we have undertaken to construe it. 
We must maintain their organic union and at the same time con- 
tribute to the enrichment and unification of the personality of 
the pupil. But this unity would still be incomplete without 
the addition of two more educational elements besides the ones 
discussed. In my judgment the completion of personality like- 
wise requires religious and philosophical training. I shall there- 
fore conclude this already somewhat lengthy exposition of the 
concept of general education with a discussion of these two 
elements. 

Religious training in general is not so much a problem of the 
school as of the family and the Church. Anyone who is reared 
in a community that is religiously inclined will naturally acquire 
those spiritual dispositions we may briefly define as religiosity. 
The social character essential to religion already indicates that 
the influence of environment, the suggestive effect of the milieu 
counts for more than any direct instruction. And the great 
culture religions all possess the prestige of a long, historical 
course of development, a powerful tradition; they have de- 
veloped complex systems of doctrine and many ceremonies of 
worship. The need of familiarizing the rising generation with 
all these things by direct instruction long ago made itself felt 
among most religious communities. Many civilized countries 
regard it the duty of the state to furnish the youth with re- 
ligious instruction, and therefore include religious training in 
the group of social requirements, the sum-total of which con- 
stitute the concept of general education. Some countries, such 
as France and North America leave the matter of religious 
training to the discretion of parents. But even in those coun- 
tries the attitude which the individual takes to this question 
depends more upon the social group to which he belongs than 
upon the choice of the individual himself. At any rate re- 
ligion is at present not a private affair as many pretend to 
assume. It is of course true that religion has been profoundly 
spiritualized and individualized during the course of the ages 
and we can even at the present time note the progress of this 
process. The social character of religion however can never 
be lost, because it belongs to its essential nature. Religion is 
undoubtedly a matter of personal faith and life, but it is never- 
theless above all else, a sense of fellowship. All religious ideas 



74 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

consist of social crystallizations and it is as such that they have 
acquired their influence upon men. 

Religion is however likewise one of the elementary principles 
of humanity. Just as the most primitive race has its religion, 
humanity, no matter how far advanced, is unable and unwilling 
to renounce it. The problem as to whether the ultimate nature 
of the universe is spiritual or material, or, as I believe, both, 
belongs to metaphysics. It is however not a problem, but a 
fact of the evolution of civilization that the world is constantly 
being more and more spiritualized through the efforts of man. 
Hence, faith in spiritual powers constantly receives new in- 
centive through the progress of mankind and as long as this 
faith persists religion will likewise endure. 

We may therefore say that religious training will constitute 
an element of general education for a long time to come, and 
it is our business to determine which of the primary functions 
of consciousness it is calculated to develop. The various con- 
fessions will no doubt always retain the privilege and duty of 
determining the matter of religious instruction, but general 
didactics, as Willmann construes the theory of education, will 
nevertheless be permitted to interpose suggestions. I feel jus- 
tified therefore in saying that religious training must, first of 
all, be a part of emotional and volitional training. If religious 
instruction is not to result in a reduction instead of an advance- 
ment of religiosity, it must not be too intellectualistic, i.e., it 
must not appeal exclusively or even chiefly to the memory and 
intelligence of the pupils. History of religion and apologetics 
dare not constitute the chief element of religious education as is 
the case at present. Not the facts, but the religious significance 
of the facts must receive the chief stress. Every class exercise 
in religion should contribute something towards strengthening 
the religious sense of fellowship with the super-individual, the 
transcendent, the infinite, the primary cause of things and thus 
inspire the will with new impulses and influence its ideals. Re- 
ligion should furnish its adherents with spiritual enrichment 
and energy by permeating them with tender consolation, im- 
parting to them a consistent theory of the universe and of life. 
Here however religion comes into intimate relation with 
philosophy. 

It is the business of philosophy to do the same for the primary 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 75 

functions of intellect as religion does for emotional and voli- 
tional training. Both are intended to be unifying and completing 
in their effect. 

Philosophical training is at present gaining increased recog- 
nition as compared with the closing decades of the nineteenth 
century. Philosophical training could be imparted most effec- 
tively if all the teachers of the advanced grades were capable 
and disposed to bring out forcefully and thoroughly the philo- 
sophical elements contained in every subject of instruction. 
However since this can neither be expected nor desired for a 
long time to come, it will be advisable to allow a course in 
philosophical propaedeutic to remain or introduce it anew as a 
separate branch at the conclusion of secondary education as 
has been the case in Austria for the past sixty years and as 
Germany is at present again insisting. The plan of organiza- 
tion therefore prescribes logic, psychology and introduction to 
philosophy. The last was soon omitted and the Austrian gym- 
nasia (not the Real, schools) actually devote two week-hours 
each to logic and psychology in each of the highest classes. In 
Germany several different suggestions have recently been made, 
which do not come within the range of our discussion. On the 
other hand I should like to call attention to a new and sugges- 
tive idea recently set forth by Frederick Jodl, because in my 
judgment it offers the best method for what may be called 
philosophical training in the true sense of the term.^ Jodl says 
clearly and definitely that it seems to him that a certain kind 
of instruction in logic can be omitted. Grammar, mathematics 
and the mathematical sciences contain so much logical discipline 
in their very nature that the intensive and prolonged study of 
these subjects apparently makes it superfluous to burden the 
pupils with the additional formal cramming of traditional logic. 
From my own experiences I find it quite possible to make logic 
both stimulating and interesting. But the pupils nevertheless 
generally get the impression that its principles are partly self- 
evident and partly incomprehensible. On the other hand Jodl 
correctly contends that psychology is necessary and valuable, a 
conclusion borne out by my own wide experiences with this sub- 
ject. Stimulus to introspection and exercise in the analysis 

^On Departmental Training of Candidates for Professorships in 
Secondary Schools. 1909. 114 ff. Esp. 121 f. 



76 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

of psychical processes enrich the psychical inventory and con- 
stitute a valuable asset for life. Many of my pupils v^^ho have 
specialized in law and psychiatry have repeatedly assured me 
that the suggestions and facts acquired in the psychology classes 
were of value to them even after many years. Jodl accordingly 
suggests that psychology be given in the next to the last year, 
which likewise fits our conditions here in Austria, for the reason 
that the natural science instruction of the preceding year con- 
sists of anatomy and physiology. 

Jodl finally suggests a course iti the world theories of the 
Greek philosophers which should be presented to the pupils on 
the basis of a reader containing the most important passages in 
the original text and in translation. I heartily accepted this 
idea at the time Prof. Jodl presented it at the meeting of our 
Vienna teachers' association, and the more I reflect on it the 
more do I find that it must be possible in this way to arouse 
the philosophical Eros in the pupils. The Greeks were the 
first to discover the problems with which we are still occupied 
and they have likewise created the most important philosophical 
instruments of thought with which we still operate. A teacher 
well educated in philosophy with a well-prepared reader would 
certainly be in position to introduce the pupils to the most im- 
portant problems in metaphysics, epistemology, ethics and soci- 
ology, by means of free discussions of the original passages. 
The pupils would thus become familiar with the most important 
philosophical instruments of thought. Being and becoming 
(change), reality and phenomenon, cause and effect, idea, con- 
cept, sense-perception, matter and form, mind and matter, all 
these have been elaborated by the ancients. A great variety of 
points of contact between ancient and modern thought arise 
naturally. The Eleatics suggest Spinoza, Heraclitus modern 
natural science and evolution, Plato's avd/jLv-qm^ Kantian aprior- 
ism, Aristotle's ^wov ttoXltlkov the modern theories of the state, 
the epistemology of the Stoics Descartes, &c. And another 
circumstance not sufficiently appreciated hitherto seems to me 
to be of the greatest importance, namely, the fact that the ancient 
philosophers approached the profound problems of cosmology and 
of theology with a freedom from prejudice which since then is 
no longer found. It is this impartiality and neutrality of the 
ancient thinkers, by which they raised their views above the 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 77 

sphere of the common place, that adapts them so peculiarly to 
furnish the foundation of the philosophic training of the young. 
Our pupils can here be taught to see, without being implicated 
in party controversies, that there are problems upon which man 
will never cease to reflect. Here we can likewise show them 
the difficulties involved in discovering the ways which lead to 
the solution of these problems. 

This brings us to the end of our constructive task and there 
remains only the matter of giving a brief summary of the re- 
sults. General education consists of a number of social re- 
quirements the content of which varies wath the times. For a 
long time it was regarded as an enc3^clopedic summation of 
facts, a conception which still constitutes the basis of the courses 
of study at our higher schools. We have shown above that this 
conception is utterly untenable and pedagogically impractic- 
able. On the other hand a return to the educational ideal of our 
classicists and reconstructing it on the basis of modern psychology 
and sociology furnishes a theory that is both concrete and prac- 
tical. 

Viewed from this standpoint, general education consists in 
the harmonious development of all the rudimentary functions in 
man's psycho-physical organism. On the physical side we in- 
sist especially on the control of the spontaneous motor processes, 
resulting in the strengthening of the will and the advancement 
of purposefulness. On the mental side, as we have shown, the 
three primary functions of consciousness are brought to a higher 
stage of development by scientific, aesthetic and ethico-social 
training. Religion and philosophy are to unify and complete 
this development. 

4. The Aim of the Secondary School 

The aim of the secondary is i, the dissemination of general 
education and 2, the preparation for the university and profes- 
sional school. We have just given a detailed discussion of what 
general education is, or rather what it should be. From the 
viewpoint of the aim the secondary school is, first of all, an 
end in itself, because general education is valuable also to such 
as will not continue their studies after completing the second- 
ary school. But, on the other hand, general education is here 



78 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

described as a preparation for the professional school. It be- 
comes us therefore to Investigate further what really constitutes 
preparation for the professional school. 

In all civilised countries the secondary school finds its place 
between the elementary school and the university. If we study 
more closely the way in which education Is conducted at the 
opposite extremes between which the secondary school exists, 
i.e., the elementary school on the one hand, and the university 
on the other, we will better understand whence our pupils come 
and whither we should lead them. 

In the elementary school the work must all be done within the 
school Itself. The teacher cannot and should not expect the 
children to do any Independent study at their homes. The 
object here Is, If possible, that all shall acquire the ability to 
read, write and cipher. Constant repetition and untiring prac- 
tice therefore constitutes the chief work of the elementary 
teacher. The competitive position of the state, both from the 
military and economic point of view depends to no small degree 
upon the success of this work. When the modern elementary 
school teaches the children the most Important facts of life in 
their own environment by the method of observation, it in fact 
indicates a tremendous advance, but makes little or no difference 
in method. The vast progress made in elementary pedagogics 
has made learning much easier and more pleasant for the chil- 
dren and thus at the same time greatly increased the actual re- 
sults of instruction. But the direction which the individual 
effort of the pupil Is to take must constantly be carefully pre- 
scribed. The teacher leads the pupils on, step by step, until 
they have reached their goal without knowing how. The men- 
tal powers of the children are, as a matter of course, likewise 
Increased In the elementary school, but the real object never- 
theless remains the acquisition of certain facts and abilities and 
the means are constant repetition and practice at school. 

But at the university and in practical life the young man is 
thrown on his own responsibility. He is confronted with the 
task of mastering a department of knowledge. If his Intellect 
and will have been sufficiently disciplined to the required effort, 
he will make progress. If not, he must fail. The lectures and 
exercises furnish him with the necessary guidance in his studies. 
What use he makes of it is his own affair. He may attend the 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 79 

lectures or shirk them, it is wholly his own affair whether he 
participates in the exercises or not. The freedom-to-learn 
which is accorded him in fact frequently becomes a most dan- 
gerous freedom-not-to-learn. In elementary education the re- 
sponsibility rests almost exclusively with the teacher. At the 
university and in practical life each individual is responsible for 
his own progress. In the elementary school unavoidable guard- 
ianship, at the university and in practical life complete inde- 
pendence and complete responsibility. 

The secondary school is intermediate between these two and 
its most essential and most important problem may be clearly 
and concisely defined from its position. It is the business of 
the secondary school to train the pupils it receives from the 
elementary school and whom it is to pass on to the university, 
to intellectual independence and moral responsibility. Every 
teacher should be clearly conscious in each class period of this 
general object of all secondary education. The course of study 
and the method of instruction must be determined and evaluated 
from the viewpoint of this primary task. Every reform move- 
ment, those pertaining to the introduction of new subjects or 
new methods, as well as those bearing on the reduction or ex- 
pansion of the curriculum, must be viewed and criticised from 
the viewpoint of this most important and fundamental problem. 

We have therefore shown that preparation for the university 
involves being trained to intellectual independence and moral 
responsibility. Notwithstanding the importance of this aim and 
the degree to which it is adapted to furnish a common bond 
between all secondary schools and all secondary teachers, we 
must nevertheless confess that it is nothing more than a mere 
formal definition. Such a definition becomes effective only 
when it is reduced to some positive, concrete statement. And 
we deduce this from the theory of general education as we 
have just construed it. The secondary school undertakes to 
train its pupils to intellectual independence and moral responsi- 
bility by imparting to them scientific, aesthetic, ethico-social 
discipline and unifies and completes the development of the 
primary functions of consciousness through religious and philo- 
sophical education. 

Of the elements of general education that produce intellectual 
Independence scientific discipline must receive first consideration. 



8o Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

This implies, as observed above, practice in the analysis of ex- 
perience and familiarity with a number of scientific instruments 
of thought. Here we are at once confronted with the danger 
of falling once more into the encyclopedic conception which we 
have just repudiated so emphatically. We might, for example, 
say that only he who has analyzed every sphere of experience 
and is familiar with the methods of all the sciences possesses 
scientific education. We must therefore make selection on the 
basis of general considerations and the evidence of history and 
define more explicitly what we really mean by a scientific educa- 
tion which shall constitute a practical, attainable aim fox the 
secondary school. 

First of all, there are two grand divisions of experience into 
which we must introduce our pupils if we wish to impart scien- 
tific training to them. The one is nature, the other is the hu- 
man soul. We are obliged at all events to adhere to this 
methodological dualism. The mathematical sciences, i.e., 
mathematics and physics, introduce the pupil to the most exact 
and most profound consideration of nature. The intensive pur- 
suit of these disciplines teaches the pupil the inexorable uniform- 
ity of natural processes and at the same time to understand the 
methods which have enabled the human mind to investigate this 
uniformity. Even Plato recognized and appreciated the gen- 
eral disciplinary value of mathematics, and it would be quite 
superfluous to discuss the matter here. But we have only re- 
cently begun to see that this disciplinary value only attains vital 
efficiency in mathematical physics and that it is greatly intensi- 
fied by it. The significance of the trigonometrical formulae and 
the comparisons of analytical geometry make an entirely differ- 
ent impression if e.g., we discover, in deducing the conditions 
upon which the sensitivity of a balance depends, or in the 
theory of the horizontal and diagonal projection, that these 
formulae correspond to objective, real, physical processes, and 
that nature actually operates according to the laws described 
in the respective formulae. Mathematics, physics and chemistry 
are subjects of instruction therefore which impart a very im- 
portant, and for general education a quite indispensable part of 
scientific training by reason of the fact that they introduce the 
pupil to the scientific method of interpreting nature. The 
second grand division of experience, and from our point of 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 8i 

view quite as important, consists of the human mind and its 
productions. In this sphere the methods of the mathematical 
sciences lose their efficiency. There are a number of natural 
scientists who in fact have the courage to believe that the realm 
of mind can likewise be vanquished with the weapons of natural 
science, but the gravest and most fatal misunderstandings are 
inevitable consequences of such a program. As soon as we ap- 
ply the purely physical concepts of work, energy, &c., to mental 
processes these concepts are at once transformed into something 
quite different. We assume that we are speaking of mental 
processes whilst as a matter of fact we are simply discussing 
the physiological accompaniments. On the other hand if we 
ascribe the subjective processes individually familiar to every 
one to brain cells the intended physiology becomes psychology 
of the brain. There isn't any natural science that leads into 
the depths of the human soul. Its methods and instruments 
here fail absolutely. 

And yet there is scarcely anyone who would deny that the 
events transpiring on earth are to no small degree determined 
by the intellect and will of man. The progress and position of 
nations still depend on the intellectual and moral forces con- 
served within them. Even the fate of the individual is not the 
result of natural forces acting blindly, but it is materially in- 
fluenced by the spiritual forces within and about him. If we 
would therefore understand our environment and adjust our- 
selves to it we must not only seek to attain an insight into the 
workshop of nature, but likewise in the workshop of mind. 
We must also furnish our young people a timely familiarity 
with this workshop, in order that they may learn to elaborate 
and place proper value on the mental products within their own 
experience. There is one well-attested and sure means of ac- 
cess to this workshop of mind, namely, the study of language 
and the products of mind stored away in language. But it is 
philology that is occupied with this branch of study in its widest 
sense. 

The things which appear in language, no matter whether 
they are statements which are merely intended for the moment 
or definite productions handed on to succeeding generations, 
are not mere symbols, they are essential elements of spiritual 
processes. Language is not simply the manifestation of thought. 



82 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

It is far more an expression of the type and mode of the 
thought, feeling and will of the individual and of nations. 
The language and linguistic forms which have been preserved 
from various epochs, are nothing less than objectified human 
mind which is thus rendered accessible to scientific investigation. 
The analytic effort of philologists assumes the task of recon- 
structing the mental life which finds expression in these forms. 
This task is not solved at the first attempt. It requires re- 
peated application. And the effort thus applied produces a 
kind of structural modification of the organ of thought, the 
change which we describe as philological discipline. Those 
who possess it immediately analyze the linguistic forms with 
which they come in contact into their parts, they know how 
to distinguish the form from the content, they are able to grasp 
comprehensive productions more quickly and easily recognize 
similar thoughts under various forms of expression. Philo- 
logical discipline simplifies every form of scientific effort. It 
is of as much advantage to the natural scientist as the historian, 
the jurist, the economist and the philosopher. 

The analysis of the native tongue leaves philological disci- 
pline incomplete. We acquire the native tongue through imita- 
tion unconsciously and instinctively. We use it spontaneously, 
readily understanding our fellows and making ourselves under- 
stood by them. We cannot quite see therefore that what we 
have otherwise practiced " like eating and drinking, free, in 
addition requires one, two, three." However, when we under- 
take to acquire a foreign language the separate words and 
forms of expression assume an entirely new significance. The 
fact that we are obliged constantly to make comparisons be- 
tween the foreign language and our own likewise brings the 
power of expression in the native tongue, both as to its elements 
and its articulated wholes, clearly before our consciousness. As 
Goethe remarked : " He who learns no foreign language knows 
nothing about his own." The pursuit of both the classical 
languages generally furnishes opportunity for peculiarly inten- 
sive philological training which retains its value even after the 
vocabularies and forms are largely forgotten. The pupils thus 
become acquainted with the important products of a civilization 
and literature which not only constitutes the foundation but 
is likewise still an element of modern life. The modern Ian- 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 83 

guages of the advanced nations however are also excellent 
means for the realization of philological training which is valu- 
able for all the sciences. We have above discussed the impor- 
tance of philological instruction for aesthetic training, which 
furthermore involves the intensive study of one's native lan- 
guage and literature. 

We may therefore say: The secondary school trains the 
pupil to intellectual independence by means of scientific disci- 
pline. This is accomplished most effectively by introducing the 
pupils to the work-shop of nature through instruction in the 
mathematical sciences and to the work-shop of the human soul 
through philosophical discipline. 

Training to moral responsibility, in the manner described 
above, is to be accomplished through ethico-social education 
which consists in the control, invigoration and expansion of 
the will. 

We would thus have a concrete definition of the aim of the 
secondary school. This definition of aim fits all the categories 
of the existing secondary schools of Germany and Austria and 
may likewise be applied to the majority of other civilized na- 
tions. We may therefore summarize our discussion on the 
nature of the secondary school in the following propositions: 

1. The secondary school is interm.ediate between the ele- 
mentary school and the univeristy, 

2. Its problem consists in training its pupils to intellectual 
independence and moral responsibility and thus prepare them 
both for the university and for practical life. 

3. It must solve this problem by imparting general education, 
the elements of which include scientific, aesthetic, ethico-social, 
religious and philosophical training. 

4. The scientific training is to be accomplished by the com- 
bination of discipline in mathematical science and philosophy. 

We must now consider the matter of the construction of the 
course of study of a secondary school based on the principles 
set forth above. 



5. The Course of Study in the Secondary School 

Systematically constructed courses of study, deduced from 
the principles of pedagogy actually exist only In handbooks In 



84 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

pedagogy. All the courses of study in actual existence in the 
advanced schools of our age as a matter of fact are a product 
of historical tradition and the confused mass of the public 
opinion of the present age. But this is readily understood if 
we recall that general education is first of all nothing more 
than the sum-total of social requirements. Historical tradition 
represents the social requirements of the past and the public 
opinion of the present time presumes to tell us what elements 
of education the present generation needs. It is therefore no 
easy task to select from the wishes, complaints, well meant or 
notoriety-seeking suggestions which are constantly appearing in 
the thousands of newspapers, magazines and pamphlets, what 
the intelligent portion of society actually wants. We need 
not wonder therefore if the board of public instruction seeks to 
preserve the courses approved by age longer than many an en- 
thusiast among our school reformers would desire and only 
slowly and gradually recognize what is urged upon them as 
" the demands of the age." 

It would certainly be a safer mode of procedure if the de- 
partment of public instruction would determine upon their 
measures from broad general viewpoints and well established, 
scientific principles. There would at least be less ambiguity 
and indecision in the various edicts and regulations. 

I shall therefore endeavor to outline a scheme for a general 
course of study in the secondary schools, deduced from scientific 
principles and at the same time leaving room for the differentia- 
tion and growth demanded by the wealth of modern life. 

A school's course of instruction is certainly one of the most 
important means for the realization of its general educational 
aim. It is likewise evident that the matter of first importance 
in devising the course must be the intellectual development of 
the pupil. Furthermore we have above described that part of 
general education which bears on the development of the intellec- 
tual functions, so far as concerns the purposes of the secondary 
school as scientific discipline. The surest way of accomplishing 
this, as shown above, is by the combination of mathematico-scien- 
tific and philological instruction. If we recall further that 
philological discipline cannot be attained by instruction in the 
native tongue alone, we will then have laid a firm foundation 
for our course of instruction. Every secondary school must 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 85 

therefore at least teach the following subjects: A. Mathe- 
matics and physics (including chemistry) ; B. the native tongue 
and two foreign languages. This likewise furnishes an op- 
portunity for varied differentiation, according to whether the 
instruction in languages makes both the classical languages, or 
the modern languages, or even a combination of the two, the 
basis. But the principle of combining humanistic and realistic 
training, or, as this principle has been called, utraquism, applies 
to all secondary schools. In these fundamental branches in- 
tensive work is indispensable, for it is only by this means that 
the pupil receives real scientific discipline from them. This 
utraquism may be described as objective utraquism, since It 
consists of the two great reality-complexes, nature and mind, 
as we have shown in detail above. 

The question might then be raised whether it would not be 
well to be satisfied with this foundation of the course of study. 
There are many reasons In favor of such a simplification. It 
would require fewer school periods, and we could instruct the 
pupils very gradually and very thoroughly without Interruption. 
It would also leave more time for the private Inclinations of 
the pupil, for play, sport, music, and the general cultivation of 
individuality. Public opinion would nevertheless condemn such 
a reduction, and justifiably so, because such program would 
leave whole series of Important life-problems outside the pupil's 
horizon. This foundation therefore requires expansion and 
supplementation. 

With a view to realizing a practical principle for this ex- 
pansion I propose the following suggestion: a subjective or 
psychological utraquism should be combined with the objective 
or scientific utraquism which consists of a combination of phi- 
lology and mathematical natural science. That is to say, the 
scientific training of our pupils requires, in addition to the 
branches which are intended to produce severe mental disci- 
pline, such subjects also as furnish inspiration and opportunity 
for the unrestricted development of the Intellectual functions. 
This would Involve the grouping of the subjects taught In the 
secondary schools under two general heads. On the one hand 
they would divide into the philological and mathematico-natural 
science branches, on the other Into the '' disciplinary " and " in- 
spirational." 



86 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

This would furnish an articulation of the course of study 
which I regard as a pressing need. That is to say whenever 
all branches are placed on an equal footing the inevitable tend- 
ency to expand in every subject involved in the progress of 
science must necessarily lead to an over-burdening of courses, 
and as a matter of fact it has done so. In Germany the com- 
plaints against over-burden begin about the end of the third 
decade of last century. In Austria we hear them repeatedly 
since the seventies, after the more vigorous development of 
parliamentary life. The department of education tries to cor- 
rect this evil by a reduction and simplification of the subject 
matter of instruction, as well as by other methods of relief. 
But this method cannot be continued indefinitely and it likewise 
involves very serious dangers. By avoiding the Scylla of an 
over-burdened course we encounter the Charybdis of superfi- 
ciality. If we proceed still farther by this method of increasing 
simplification the secondary school can no longer fulfill its mis- 
sion of furnishing a higher general education, preparation for 
the university and selecting the capable and industrious. 

On the other hand both dangers may be avoided — that of the 
over-burdened course and that of superficialit}^ — if the sub- 
jects are divided into " disciplinary " and " inspirational " and 
this division be made the criterion for the administration of the 
curriculum of the secondary school. In the disciplinary branches 
thorough recitation work at school, previous preparation of les- 
sons by the pupil, thorough mastery of the subject matter of 
instruction and the thought-instruments involved are indis- 
pensable requirements. Those who fail to keep up with their 
classes through incapacity or lack of industry must be dismissed 
from the school. We demand the best conceivable methods of 
instruction in the disciplinary branches, and in estimating the 
work of the pupils we must insist on conscientious and rigorous 
effort. As a matter of course not all pupils are equally gifted 
for both groups, i.e., for natural science and for philology. 
Notwithstanding this however I could not by any means ap- 
prove the freedom of election which is at present insisted on so 
largely. The onesidedness of endowment for the one or the 
other group is by no means as absolute in actual experience as 
is often supposed. The pupils who are specially interested in 
mathematics and physics are as a rule capable, with a proper 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 87 

arrangement of instruction, of acquiring without difficulty the 
philological discipline necessary for every scientific education. 
Those who show an aptness for philological studies are likewise 
capable of acquainting themselves with the thought instruments 
of the mathematical sciences. So far as pertains to " disciplin- 
ary " branches therefore I still insist without qualification, on 
objective utraquism because, as I am convinced, it is this alone 
that will guarantee the actual realization of the minimum of 
scientific training. A thorough mastery of the disciplinary 
branches is possible however without any danger of over-burden. 
The student of mediocre capacity can satisfy even strict re- 
quirements with two periods a day, provided the work of the 
school is done as intensively as the importance of the matter 
requires. 

On the other hand I conceive the administration of the 
'* inspirational " subjects in an entirely different manner. In 
these subjects the work should really all be done in the school. 
The teacher w^ould have to direct all his energy and all his 
pedagogic skill towards quickening the interest of his pupils 
and enlisting their active cooperation. The memory v/ork 
would have to be reduced to a minimum and this minimum 
would have to be noted and impressed by constant repetition 
within the school itself. Failures on the part of the pupils in 
these '' inspirational " subjects should really never occur. We 
will likewise find as a rule that wherever the results in the 
" inspirational " subjects are wholly negative, there will be 
correspondingly less accomplished in the " disciplinary " sub- 
jects. But in the matter of promotions the " inspirational " 
subjects must not be regarded as nearly so important as the 
" disciplinary." 

What branches therefore are to be regarded as such " inspira- 
tional " subjects? According to my notion each of the t^vo 
" disciplinary " groups need to be supplemented by " inspira- 
tional " subjects within their own field. Mathematics and 
physics, which reveal the uniformity of inorganic nature, must 
first of all be supplemented in the direction of acquainting the 
pupil with the world of organisms. Botany and zoology in- 
cluding anthropology must therefore be regarded as such in- 
dispensable supplements of the mathematico-scientific groups. 
The results and the thought-instruments of modern biology are 



88 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

not yet sufEciently clear and concise to adapt these subjects to the 
purpose of scientific discipline. They should therefore simply 
enlist an interest in observing the animal and vegetable king- 
doms, and, as far as possible by examining the objects them- 
selves, show how to regard, describe and classify the organisms. 
In botany it is possible to place an exam.ple of the subject under 
consideration in the hands of each pupil and permit him to form 
a conception of its structure and various parts by an analysis 
which he has himself performed. Under no conditions should 
the memoriter learning of the names of many animals and 
plants be required. What the pupils learn and acquire in the 
school work and excursions must be sufficient. 

I regard geography as a further supplementation of mathe- 
matico-scientific instruction, with which geology and mineral- 
ogy' are readily combined. The greatly improved methods of 
instruction in geography make it easy to develop the funda- 
mental concepts of physical geography through sense percep- 
tion. Exercise in the use of maps, which I regard as the most 
important result of the study of geography, can certainly be 
accomplished within the class periods, and if the teacher suc- 
ceeds in awakening the interest of the pupils they will be glad 
to refer to their atlas at home. The clear images which are 
thus impressed on their memories must suffice. The memoriz- 
ing of names and figures must be limited to a minimum. 
Mathematical and astronomical geography are readily and or- 
ganically correlated with physics and the strictly scientific char- 
acter of this discipline likewise thus attains clearer force. Po- 
litical geography and ethnography as well as everything political 
and statistical on the other hand is well adapted to instruction 
in history. 

The second group of '' disciplinary " subjects, which I have 
briefly described as " philology," requires a very important 
supplementation, furnished by the study of history. Philology 
is constantly becoming more historical, and this applies to both 
classical and modern philology. The historical foundation 
therefore becomes increasingly important. On the other hand 
however the intimate correlation of history with philology gives 
the former an aesthetic and ethical point of contact which is of 
vast importance. According to the famous saying of Goethe 
the best thing about history consists of the enthusiasm which 



The Character and Problem of the Secondary School 89 

it inspires. And as a matter of fact we must insist that the 
teaching of history is not a process of hammering a list of 
names and dates into the heads of the pupils, but a filling of 
their souls with new energy. 

The history of one's native country and of the ancients is 
peculiarly adapted to this purpose. Both are also readily cor- 
related with philological study. In my opinion the best re- 
sults would be obtained if the work in history were in charge 
of the language teachers. The teacher of German, who has 
been under no necessity of making any intensive study of history, 
could quite readily acquire the ability to teach German history 
and even ancient history is not beyond his reach. It must even 
be easier for the classical philologist to present ancient history, 
and the teachers of modern languages have frequent occasion 
to make a thorough study of the history of the nations whose 
languages they are studying. I am decidedly of the opinion 
that the teaching of history, the method of which is unfor- 
tunately still but slightly developed, could be improved by such 
a correlation with philology and at the same time be made a 
living reality. 

The teachers who are at present dealing exclusively with 
the subjects which I have described as " inspirational " will 
likely find objection to the arrangement of the course of study 
here suggested. They may think that they will thus drop in the 
estimation of their pupils and colleagues because they would 
likewise be reduced to the position of teachers of the second 
rank. But this difficulty could easily be overcome by recon- 
structing the system of examinations and the distribution of 
subjects according to the suggestions here made. Each teacher 
who is qualified for a " disciplinary " subject, could also easily 
acquire the ability to teach an " inspirational " subject. The 
distribution of subjects would then have to be made so as to 
give each teacher both disciplinary and inspirational branches. 
This would offer the not inconsiderable additional advantage of 
Introducing helpful alternation into the work of the teacher, 
which would enable the teacher to make different sides of his 
personality felt. The teacher who has been working diligently 
for two successive periods in mathematics and held the at- 
tention of the pupils will find it refreshing to devote a third 
hour to geography where he can tell of his travels and thus 



90 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

inspire and hold the attention of his pupils. The teacher also 
learns to understand the individuality of the pupil better if he 
has the opportunity of observing their conduct in both the 
"disciplinary" and ''inspirational" subjects. In brief: The 
more I reflect the greater seem the advantages of the arrange- 
ment of the subject matter of instruction here suggested. 

The course of study arranged in this way will still require 
completion by religion and philosophy as indicated above. The 
aesthetic training of the pupils, as has been frequently observed, 
is really an important part of the instruction in language. But 
in addition to this we should recommend for this specific pur- 
pose the taking up of drawing because it simplifies and refines 
the conception of aesthetic form. 

The care of the body and the discipline of the will, as we have 
likewise shown, requires the introduction of gymnastics and 
manual training. 

This would furnish a systematically constructed course of 
study, which so far as content is concerned, differs but little from 
what is in actual operation. The principle of division into " dis- 
ciplinary " and " inspirational " branches is the only thing that 
is new. And I should like to commend this principle once more 
to the careful consideration of my colleagues and to the ofl&cers 
of public instruction. 

We must now turn to the consideration of the things which 
a teacher in a secondary school thus organized may be expected 
to accomplish in a scientific, didactic and ethical way, in order 
that our pedagogic and educational aim thus clearly circum- 
scribed and characterized may also be actually achieved. 



CHAPTER III 

THE SCIENTIFIC PROBLEM OF THE SECONDARY TEACHERS 

I. The General Problem 

IF then, the aim of the secondary school, discussed in detail 
in chapter two, is to be realized, each teacher, no matter 
what branch he has chosen for his special field, must study the 
fundamental principles of pedagogy and give some attention tc 
the aim and the method for the guidance of the pupils. Among 
the general scientific problems, which are obligatory on all 
teachers, it seems to me therefore that the scientific pursuit 
of pedagogics is the first and most important. 

The opposition to everything pertaining to didactics and 
methods which has been prevalent among us for a considerable 
period seems now to be happily on the wane. The charge that 
we are scholars but not teachers, that we lecture instead of 
instruct and educate has been made too emphatically and too 
loudly. Educational administrators have been very active in 
organizing and developing schools of education during recent 
years. But notwithstanding this fact there are still many 
who regard the study of pedagogy at the university as unneces- 
sary, useless and even harmful. At the university, so they say, 
the student should devote himself wholly to the science of his 
chosen department. He should study and investigate without 
being hampered by any thought of his future vocation, so as 
above all else to become skilled in his department. The ma- 
jority of hearers, it is added, likewise have no interest in 
pedagogy during their university years. They want to learn 
and are not concerned about the fact that they are sometime 
later on expected to teach. 

I am utterly opposed to this view so frequently heard and 
advocated even by so famous a pedagogue as Fries, both from 
the viewpoint of theory^ and likewise on the basis of the facts. 
I feel on the contrary that whoever goes to the university with 

91 



92 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

a view to preparation for teaching cannot discover too soon 
what it really means to be a teacher. He should understand 
as early as possible what really constitutes his future vocation, 
the problem of each and every education and the qualities of 
personality it requires. Pedagogy is no longer an addendum 
of philosophy and its principles must no longer be deduced 
from a completed philosophical system. We have already for 
a long time been working on a system of education which, 
resting on a biological, psychological, historical and especially 
sociological basis, is using the inductive and even the experi- 
mental methods with increasing effect. Education as a matter 
of course is now as always the conscious influence of the mature 
on the immature pupils, but the conditions and aims of this 
influence now appear in an entirely different light. The zealous 
pedagogues of the eighteenth century regarded the pupil after 
the analogy of a mass of tones from which the teacher was sup- 
posed to be able to produce whatever form he chose. We now 
know on the basis of the theory of evolution that every new-born 
child enters the world with very definite, inherited psychical dis- 
positions. It is the business of education to recognize these ex- 
isting germs, to cultivate and bring them to their full develop- 
ment, which essentially can and should be nothing more than 
an aid in development. 

Modern pedagogy differs from the older on still another 
point. The new humanistic educational ideal, as conceived for 
example by a William v. Humboldt, regards the all-round and 
harmonious development of personality as the only, as well as 
the highest aim of education. They seek to realize the con- 
ception of personality as an end in itself so vigorously empha- 
sized by Kant in the second formulation of the categorical im- 
perative, and reject every reference to social utility with the 
greatest finality. Hence William v. Humboldt was dismissed 
from his office in 1791 because he had vaguely conceived the 
idea that the only thing really worth while consists of person- 
ality. This individualistic conception, which likewise charac- 
terized Goethe's ideas, was unable to resist the historical and 
social-intellectual trend of the nineteenth century. Society im- 
periously commands the individual who has become independent 
through social differentiation to return to its service. Perhaps 
too imperiously, for already in the tw^entieth century we again 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 93 

hear the cry for the free development of personality. But our 
insight into the human soul and into human society now teaches 
us that man who is born into society is capable of developing 
a complete and vigorous personality only as he places his en- 
ergies in the service of a social fact which freely inspires his 
complete devotion. (See above, pp. 8, 22.) That is to say that 
in our day even individualism has a social basis and we must 
say that one of the chief duties of every educator is to enable 
his pupils to understand the relations of the individual to the 
whole and impress upon them the obligations which this in- 
volves. Modern pedagogy is therefore characterized by the 
fact that it must be empirical, evolutional and social. 

We shall have occasion farther on, in connection with the 
discussion of the didactic problems of the secondary teacher, 
to emphasize the important didactic principles which apply spe- 
cially to instruction in the advanced schools. We are at pres- 
ent concerned with the scientific pursuit of pedagogy and a brief 
mention of such parties as specially require consideration for 
our vocation must suffice. 

In my opinion it is of primary importance that every pros- 
pective teacher should be concerned about the fundamental prin- 
ciples of his profession. And he will find these of the greatest 
advantage to him if he approaches them from the evolutional 
and sociological viewpoint. And more than this, it seems to 
me important that every teacher should thoroughly understand 
the school in which he is working, both as to its organization 
and its relation to the body politic and the social organism in 
general. The method of the particular subject is rather a 
problem of didactics. But I should nevertheless regard it de- 
sirable that the universities should give courses on methods in 
the most important departments, so that the students in the 
closing semesters of their work might at least have the oppor- 
tunity of getting some special preparation for their future work. 

Anyone who takes up the study of pedagogy quickly sees that 
some familiarity with psychology is indispensable. The neces- 
sity of psychological training for every teacher is so generally 
acknowledged at present that I need not elaborate this point in 
detail. I shall therefore confine myself to a few suggestions 
as to what in psychology is of most importance to the teacher 
and how he may acquire a knowledge of it most readily and 



94 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

most quickly. The matter of first importance is the attainment 
and grasp of the psychological point of view. By this I mean 
that the teacher's whole being must be thoroughly permeated 
with, the insight that in every moment of his didactic and peda- 
gogic activity he must constantly transplant himself into the 
souls of his pupils. The teacher must never forget that it is 
the pupils who must acquire certain materials of instruction, 
and that the only way in which they can do this is by means 
of the rudiments, capacities, or, to express it generally, the 
psychical dispositions which they already possess. Everyone 
who wishes to teach must certainly understand this. And this 
is such a self-evident fact that it is actually embarrassing even 
to make any specific reference to such banalities. But the ex- 
perienced school-man, who is acquainted with his colleagues, 
knows that this self-evident requirement is nevertheless but 
relatively seldom realized. Many teachers cannot understand 
that their pupils are not interested in their subjects, in fact 
they refuse to concede that it is their business to awaken interest. 
They fail to see how it is that this or that is so hard for their 
pupils to comprehend, that notwithstanding the fact that the 
subject has been covered repeatedly they still continue to make 
mistakes. And teachers are too prone to ascribe the cause of 
the failure to laziness, indolence, poor preparation, or even to 
the perversity of the pupils. This however is wholly due to 
the fact that the teachers of the higher schools are as yet but 
poorly trained in psychology. Psychological training implies 
first of all practice in the analysis of psychical processes and 
knowledge of the psychical laws discovered hitherto. Anyone 
who understands the associative and apperceptive course of 
ideas, anyone who is familiar with the conditions and limits of 
the retentiveness of memory, anyone who has a clear conception 
of the fundamental importance of the sphere of feeling and 
will, will at least be preserved from the error of requiring or 
expecting the impossible. He will arrange his work of teaching 
in accordance with the laws of attention and the phenomena of 
fatigue, and likewise reach the conclusion that the cause of 
certain failures is not always the fault of the pupils, but fre- 
quently that of the teachers. 

The constant use of the latest achievements in psychology and 
the unremitting endeavor to extend and deepen it are among 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 95 

the most important of the didactic obligations of the teacher. 
We shall return to the discussion of these matters farther on. 

An acquaintance with experimental methods in psychology 
can best be acquired from Wundt's Human and Animal Psy- 
chology, William James' Principles of Psychology still re- 
mains the most important work in introspective psychology and 
should be studied by every one. James' Talks to Teachers is 
likewise very rich and suggestive for the teacher. The care- 
fully compiled results of experimental investigation in Max 
Offner's books on Memory and Fatigue (Trans, by Whipple) 
are exceedingly valuable. 

The matter of greatest importance is this, namely, that the 
teacher acquire the psychological point of view as early in his 
vocational career as possible and that he retains it throughout 
the period of his service. I might also suggest that the teacher 
with psychological training and interest will here likewise find 
a fruitful field for productive authorship. The school fur- 
nishes abundant opportunity for observations which are entirely 
spontaneous. At present the theory of various characteristic 
types and especially the differential psychology of the pupil in 
the process of development is highly important. Stanley Hall's 
comprehensive work. Adolescence, furnishes an abundance of 
suggestive material. 

The bearing of what is called philosophical training in the 
narrower sense is somewhat different from psychology. I should 
myself certainly be the last to depreciate the value of a thor- 
ough acquaintance with philosophy. From wide observation I 
am more and more convinced that philosophy is more a per- 
sonal matter than a matter of scientific need. Philosophy is 
more a matter of life than of learning. A philosophy which 
has been laboriously gathered from comprehensive reading, 
which has not been vitally and personally assimilated and 
constructed, certainly cannot so permeate the soul as to be 
transformed into its essence. But it is only such that in truth 
deserves the name of philosophy. Anyone who feels the need 
of penetrating beyond the common-place experiences of life and 
the positive results of his science to a consistent world-view in 
terms of his own thinking, will himself discover the ways and 
means to realize his purpose. But it is certainly highly de- 
sirable that many of the secondary teachers possess the philo- 



96 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

sophical Eros, and everything should be done to cultivate and 
develop this impulse. But those who are not brought to a 
genuine philosophical wonder will never profit much from a 
study of philosophical treatises enforced by the certificate re- 
quirements. A skillful specialist with good psychological train- 
ing will do good work without philosophy and bring the dis- 
ciplinary power contained in his subject to effective results. 

The philosophical training of the teacher acts most vitally 
and hence most advantageously when he starts with his own 
special field and seeks to advance to conclusions or principles 
of greater generality. Personally I have been led to the study 
of the psychology of language by classical philology and then, 
through the appointment to teach philosophical propaedeutic, 
extended my studies to a broader field. The Germanist and the 
modern philologist will have similar experiences in his field. 
He may perhaps also be led to the problems of poetics and 
thence to aesthetics and the philosophy of art. The historian 
is most likely to be attracted to the study of the youngest philo- 
sophical discipline, sociology, and thence to the philosophy of 
history which has recently come more into vogue again. The 
mathematician and physicist on the other hand will naturally 
be concerned with the epistemological bases of natural science 
which will also furnish him with information on the origin, 
significance and meaning of the fundamental concepts of his 
science; such as space, time, force and energy, which he will 
find useful in instruction. 

But there is one branch of philosophical study with which 
every teacher should be acquainted. I refer to the history of 
philosophy. Even those who do not feel the impulse to inde- 
pendent philosophizing can acquire the most important facts. 
A knowledge of these facts is however of vast importance in 
every department of instruction. The Austrian Instructions 
require the teacher of classical philology to give a resume of 
the presocratic philosophy as an introduction to Plato, and he 
must self-evidently understand the philosophy of Socrates and 
Plato in order to interpret the dialogues correctly. So likewise 
the thorough understanding of the philosophical writings of 
Cicero requires a knowledge of Stoicism, Epicureanism and the 
philosophy of the Academy. The same is true in many re- 
spects in the case of Horace, especially in reference to the 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 97 

Epistles. But if the classical philologist is acquainted not only 
with ancient philosophy but likewise with the modern he will 
be in position to inspire an entirely new life into the lessons of 
Plato. And according to my view a more profound under- 
standing of Plato's Apology requires that the ethical principles 
it contains be thoroughly explained in the light of modern life, 
and I have found great satisfaction every time we read the 
Apology in the eager participation and lively interest manifested 
by the pupils in such expositions. The combination of the 
ancient with the most modern philosophy impressed itself upon 
me still more clearly as I once attempted this method in the 
reading of the Gorgias with the pupils of the eighth class. 
(Prima.) I directed the attention of the pupils to how great 
an extent Frederick Nietzsche appropriated the ideas expressed 
by the youthful Callicles in this dialogue, and I could likewise 
show them the triumphant superiority with which Socrates re- 
futed these views which are being so enthusiastically adopted by 
our modern youth. The classes were mutually inspiring to both 
teacher and pupils and they also contributed much towards re- 
moving the confusion, frequently quite serious, produced by 
Nietzsche. 

The Germanist, in order to interpret Lessing's Laokoon, 
Schiller's philosophical Lyrics^ Goethe's Faustj and finally for 
an understanding of the romanticists, must understand almost 
the whole of modern philosophy, but especially the fundamental 
principles of Spinoza, Baumgarten (the author of modern aes- 
thetics), Kant, Fichte, Schelling, Hegel, and Schleiermacher. 
And even the instructor in natural science cannot have full suc- 
cess without an acquaintance with the influence of the discover- 
ies and investigations of Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler and New- 
ton on the world-view of the seventeenth and eighteenth cen- 
turies. 

There remain a large number of special cases in which a 
knowledge of the history of philosophy is necessary for the 
teacher, or at least very useful. I think therefore that it is 
very desirable that more direct reference should be made in 
the regulations governing the certification of teachers. In 
Prussia every candidate for the office of teacher must pass an 
examination in philosophy, which generally also includes an 
essay. Vaihinger has made valuable suggestions on the selec- 



98 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

tion of themes for these philosophical essays in his very readable 
article on Philosophy in the State Examinations, He advo- 
cates the same principles which I have just set forth, namely, 
that the examination in philosophy should be made from the 
viewpoint of the candidate's special branch of study. In the 
oral examination he would also require the history of philoso- 
phy. Here in Austria we do not require quite as much as this. 
The regulations simply require that the candidate attend a 
course of lectures in philosophy for a semester and that he 
give evidence of his work by conducting a conference on some 
philosophical topic. It has been my privilege to conduct more 
than three thousand such conferences during the past ten years. 
The experiences which have thus come to me seem in a general 
way to confirm the wisdom of this rule. But I should like to 
see several modifications. 

First of all psychology should be separated from philosophy 
and each candidate should be required to present a Colloquium 
in psychology, or, what might perhaps be better still, to ex- 
amine directly in psychology at the teacher's final examination. 
It would then be necessary to require each student to conduct a 
Colloquium on two philosophical lectures. And it should be 
added, that Introduction to Philosophy and History of Philos- 
ophy are best adapted to this purpose. The educational ad- 
ministrators would then have to make provision for such courses 
at regular intervals. It would also be very desirable if the 
history of philosophy were not only given in exhaustive courses 
extending through several semesters, but also that a compre- 
hensive outline be given in a single semester. The history of 
philosophy is a pretty difficult subject, and the living voice, the 
stimulus of oral exposition here contributes greatly to the study 
of the dead letter. 

We might therefore say that thorough philosophical training 
is indeed desirable for every teacher, but it should nevertheless 
not be made an absolute requirement. On the other hand we 
should regard the acquaintance with the problems of philosophy 
and their historical development as the common scientific prob- 
lem of all teachers, and see to it that the necessary means are 
discovered to accomplish the solution of this problem. 

Prussia still requires an examination in religion of all^ its 
candidates for the teaching office. This has not been required 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 99 

here in Austria since the reorganization of the Gymnasium in 
1849. My experiences convince me that a familiarity with the 
Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments Is a real 
necessity in a large number of subjects of Instruction and very 
valuable in most all of them. It has, e.g., always made a pro- 
found Impression on the class when. In the study of the familiar 
chorus of Antigone, " Much that Is mighty lives," I read the 
eighth Psalm, where the power of man over nature is likewise 
set forth. But the knowledge of the Bible is even of far 
greater importance to the Germanlst and the historian than to 
the classical philologist. But alas, this knowledge seems to 
have greatly decreased during recent decades. I have made 
a variety of interesting observations on this point, both with 
teachers and pupils. I was once sitting in a hotel with some 
twenty colleagues after a meeting of our secondary teachers' 
union. It happened, I know not how, that our conversation 
drifted to the familiar phrase, " Now we know in part." I was 
curious to know whether my colleagues knew the origin of the 
phrase, so I inquired whence this expression was derived. 
One thought Lessing was the author, another Goethe but the 
majority admitted that they did not know. In the circle, 
consisting largely of Catholics, there was also a Protestant 
teacher. The latter remarked that the passage seemed to him 
to come from the Bible somewhere. And they were all greatly 
surprised to find the passage In the same thirteenth chapter of 
first Corinthians which begins with the familiar words: " And 
though I speak with the tongue of men and angels, &c." I 
have also found that among my pupils the Protestants, who are 
scarce among us, are as a rule better acquainted with the Bible. 
But notwithstanding this I could not agree to make it a re- 
quired subject in the state examination. As a matter of fact 
both the political and inter-confessional character of our schools 
presents no obstacles to such provision, but the candidates would 
find it an added burden which would seem to have but little 
practical value, since religious instruction at the higher schools 
is scarcely ever In the hands of the secular teachers in this 
predominantly Roman Catholic state. On the other hand I 
should regard it very desirable that the students be given an 
opportunity to attend lectures on comparative religion and on 
the^ general philosophy of religion. The scientific world of to- 



lOO Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

day takes an essentially different attitude to the significance 
of religion as a factor in civilization from that of the enlighten- 
ment of the eighteenth century. The profound awakening and 
sharpening of the historical sense brought about in the nine- 
teenth century is producing results. The science of anthro- 
pology has established the fact that religious ideas belong to 
the primary thought of the human race. We are in position to 
show the social origin and the individual construction of human 
knowledge in the evolution of religions in a manner scarcely 
equalled in any other subject. This evolutionary process more- 
over reveals, to all who have learned to interpret them intelli- 
gently, how the religious concepts, originally coarsely anthro- 
pomorphic are gradually purified and refined by being vitally 
related with ethical requirements. The classical philologist 
who is acquainted with these facts can show this to the pupils 
right in the process of the change undergone in the idea of the 
gods, especially that of Zeus, during the period from Homer to 
Sophocles. The historian will have a better understanding of 
the religious movements of the various epochs and the Germanist 
will more correctly evaluate the religious element in the crea- 
tions of Shakespeare, Goethe and the Romanticists. Even the 
physicist and naturalfst will learn much from such study on the 
relation of religion and science which will be valuable in his own 
department. 

An acquaintance with the nature of religion and a knowledge 
of the doctrines and practices of the confession to which the 
teacher belongs as well as that to which the majority of the 
pupils belong, forms a part of our general scientific problem, 
no matter whether it is included in the examination regulations 
or not. 

The examination regulations, both in Germany and here in 
Austria, require the correct use of the language of instruction 
and an acquaintance with the masterpieces of its literature. 
This requirement is so patent as to need no further comment. 
I might simply add that this minimum requirement for certifi- 
cation is not sufficient for the needs of instruction. If Nagels- 
bach could say, the Gymnasial teacher must be a learned man, 
we must now say, the secondary teacher must be a cultured man. 
But this does not mean the mere ability to speak German and 
some knowledge of Goethe and Schiller. We must acquaint 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher lOl 

ourselves as thoroughly as possible with the literary, political, 
economic, social and the general cultural movements of our 
age. We must understand our age so as to be the better en- 
abled to guard our pupils against the errors of the age. The 
profound complexity of modern life, which particularly in our 
great cities pours down upon the pupils of the advanced classes, 
frequently gives rise to ideas, feelings and desires from which 
w^e ordinarily shrink. We cannot, as a matter of course, by 
any means paralyse all the influences or direct them into the 
proper channels. But if we are to be in a position to be helpful 
in any real sense to the youth who are entrusted to our care, 
we are obliged to understand as thoroughly as possible the 
temptations to which they are exposed. We shall have occa- 
sion to refer to this phase of our work again when we come 
to the discussion of our social duties. 

Finally therefore I might summarize our general professional 
duties as follows: The thorough mastery of pedagogy and 
psychology is the irremissible duty of every teacher. General 
philosophical training, and particularly an acquaintance with the 
historical development of philosophical problems is very desir- 
able. An intelligent grasp of the nature of religion and an 
acquaintance with the sources and practices of his own con- 
fession will greatly increase the teacher's efficiency in his work. 
And every teacher must not only be able to use his mother 
tongue correctly and with facility; he must also be well ac- 
quainted with the masterpieces of its literature and be in touch 
with the thought-currents of his people and his age. 

2. The Special Groups 

I wish to add to the above considerations, of our general 
duties, a few remarks on the preparation of the teacher in the 
various departments. 

A. Philology 

I. The ancient languages. The teacher of classical philology 
at present encounters a situation which is highly complicated 
and difficult. First of all the storm of protest against the 
Gymnasial monopoly has had the objective result of admitting 



I02 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

to university privileges the pupils from the schools vrhere 
neither of the ancient classics are taught. But of far more 
serious consequence for classical training is the subjective ef- 
fect v^^hich the protest against the ancient languages, especially 
against Greek, is beginning to produce. We find unfortunately, 
even in the camp of the philologists themselves, clear evidences of 
discouragement. Faith in the disciplinary value of the ancient 
languages is declining and v^^ithout this faith it is impossible 
to inspire the subjective spirit necessary to the proper appre- 
ciation of the treasures stored up in the ancient languages and 
their utilization for the development of youth. And this un- 
fortunately undeniable lethargy even comes at a time vrhen 
the science of philology is not only in the full bloom of its 
usefulness, but in fact just in position to gather the harvest 
provided by millenniums of preliminary toil. The monuments 
of antiquity, enhanced by many precious discoveries, are now 
within the reach of scientific investigation. The papyrus-rec- 
ords and the inscriptions have been added to the texts of the 
ancient authors, with the result that our knowledge of the 
history of the social and private life of the peoples of antiquity 
has been wonderfully deepened. Philology has drawn the early 
Christian and Byzantine literature into the sphere of its in- 
vestigation and by an intensive study has discovered new points 
of contact with Hellenism. Psychology and anthropology per- 
meate and vitalize the whole field. The detailed work of 
analysis, hitherto the chief business of the philologist, will still 
find much material and many problems for a long time to come. 
But we may nevertheless undertake to move forward to more 
comprehensive syntheses, many have in fact already done so. 
We approach the problem of writing the history of the science, 
the religion, the ethics and the aesthetics and interpreting the 
evolution of political and social ideas as well as the economic 
life of antiquity with definite principles. Anyone who now 
devotes himself to the study of classical philology discovers 
great and inspiring problems, which are well adapted to enrich 
and strengthen the mind and soul. If it should actually be 
the sad lot of classical philology, that now, just as she is re- 
alizing the climax of her scientific endeavor, she must be 
robbed of her fostering soil, the school, the situation is still not 
so deplorable. The classical studies still have abundant friends 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 103 

and the existing regulations still leave abundant room to give 
proof of the inexhaustible cultural value of antiquity. It 
therefore becomes a matter of honor to every teacher of the 
ancient languages so to inspire and interest their pupils that 
they will in time insist on the preservation of this department 
of education. Many have sinned in this respect. The over- 
emphasis of the grammatical phase of the instruction in the 
ancient languages has diverted the attention from the thought 
of the authors to the linguistic form. On the other hand the 
attempt to introduce a large amount of sense-perception, 
archaeology and objective facts into philological instruction has 
frequently been detrimental to thoroughness. It is necessary 
therefore to introduce ntw energy at this point and the primary 
condition is that the prospective teachers get a correct concep- 
tion of their educational problem and apply themselves unre- 
mittingly to their philological education. 

The primary duty of the philologist is to read widely and 
thoroughly of the ancient authors. These readings must form 
the foundation upon which the knowledge of classical antiquity 
as a unique phenomenon of civilization is gradually builded. 
The professional pursuit of philology is not always favorable to 
such reading. The necessary specialization imposed by the 
progress of investigation has the effect of leading the amateur 
philologist to a one-sided detailed study of a single author or 
to investigations requiring a perusal of various authors with 
reference to some specific linguistic or factual phenomenon. 
Anyone reading Csesar, e.g., for the purpose of studying the 
consecutive temporum in the historical present tense, or works 
through Plato with a view to investigations of terminology, or 
undertakes to find out the frequency and position of dactyls 
in trimeter in the Tragedies of Sophocles, will assimilate but 
little of the content of what he has read and will retain still 
less. We teachers require a different kind of reading and 
especially with a different end in view. We must acquire a 
stock of the aesthetically and historically important masterpieces 
of ancient literature by our own effort which will always be 
at our command. But we must read these v/orks for their own 
sake. We must retain their content, structure and as many 
details a$ possible, and if possible the language. And at the 
same time we must attempt to conceive these works in their 



I04 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

relation to the whole of antiquity and hence in their historical 
significance. We are quite as well aware as the research philolo- 
gists that antiquity, to quote the famous phrase of Wilamowitz, 
as an ideal and unity is past. We know that the fifteen cen- 
turies between Homer and Justinian have produced profound 
changes in the relation of the individual to his people, to morals, 
and to religion and that the intellectual horizon of man has 
been greatly enlarged. But, if I am permitted the expression, 
there are permanent levels in this process of evolution. In this 
rise and fall of history there are several pinnacles which re- 
main forever visible from every side. And we can say very 
literally that there are products in the history and civilization 
of antiquity whose beneficent influence is by no means spent 
and is not likely to be spent within any conceivable period of 
time. The acquisition of these vital elements of antiquity 
and their application to the problems of modern life is the goal 
which every teacher of ancient languages should set up for 
himself. 

The certificate regulations in the majority of the German 
states and likewise in Austria confine the requirements to the 
authors read in the schools. But teachers cannot be satisfied 
with this. No one can understand Sophocles without some ac- 
quaintance with Aeschylus and Euripides, and the intellectual 
life of Athens in the fifth century b. c. can never be appre- 
ciated in all its vital splendor without having read Aristophanes 
and Thucydides. On the other hand I should gladly waive 
Lysias aside, and induce the candidates to devote some attention 
to Aristotle and read the Poetics^ the Nichomachean Ethics and 
especially the Politics. 

In the essay cited above, Arnim very correctly indicated that 
every philologist shoulcl likewise practice translating. On this 
point I beg to offer a suggestion to everyone wishing to pre- 
pare for teaching the ancient languages. Let him provide him- 
self at the very beginning of his university studies with a note- 
book for classic gems. Then whenever in his reading he comes 
upon a passage which impresses him as important and inter- 
esting for any reason whatsoever, let him transcribe it in the 
original in his notebook and underneath a translation made as 
exact and careful as possible with special reference to content 
and form. He will thus gradually acquire a splendid collec- 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 105 

tion of gems of antiquity, a collection made by personal choice 
and individual effort, which corresponds to the individuality 
of the teacher and is therefore readily fixed in memory. He 
at the same time practices translation and acquires invaluable 
materials for vitalizing his instruction. 

Reading must likewise furnish the basis for the constant in- 
crease and enrichment of linguistic ability. Arnim correctly 
observes, that the philologist should study the theory of phonetics 
and verbal structure under the linguist, and syntax under the 
philologist. A familiarity with the elements of comparative 
philology is indispensable in elementary instruction in Greek 
as also in the interpretation of Homer. And a clear under- 
standing of the sentence structure of the ancient languages can 
only be acquired by absorption in these languages themselves 
through intensive interpretation, through thorough analysis. 
But this presupposes — and here I repeat one of my oft ex- 
pressed pet phrases — above everything else psychological train- 
ing. The peculiar flexibility of the Greek language which 
makes it possible to express the most delicate nuances of 
thought appropriately, which frequently in the midst of an 
address as if by the slight pressure of a secret button yields 
a new coloring, can only be appreciated by one whose mind 
has become pliable by practice in analyzing psychical pro- 
cesses. I have illustrated this with examples in my essays on 
Psychology in the Service of Grammar and Interpretation and 
The Disciplinary Value of Instruction in the Ancient Lan- 
guages. Both for the thorough understanding of grammatical 
structure as well as for the interpretation of an author it is 
absolutely necessary to transport oneself into the soul of the 
speaker and subjectively reexperience what is said and written. 
It then becomes an easy matter both in grammar and in reading 
to suffuse the subject with life and arouse interest in it. And 
the psychological interpretation of language likewise confirms 
the view that verbal and real understanding always proceed to- 
gether and mutually interpenetrate and support each other. 
In my opinion therefore it is the duty of every philologist not 
only to study psychology to the extent required of all teach- 
ers; in addition to this he must even make language itself and 
the products of language the subject of a penetrating psycho- 
logical analysis. 



io6 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

We remarked above that reading forms the most important 
basis for the professional training of the philologist. This 
cannot be over-emphasized, but we must always add that read- 
ing alone is not wholly sufficient. We also need summarized 
statements of ancient history, of the literary development as 
well as of the public and private life of the Greeks and Romans. 
Scientific research, by appropriating the inscriptions, the papyri 
and the remaining relics of antiquity which the spade has brought 
to light, has in a very wide sense enriched and corrected our 
idea of the ancients. A recognition of the results of this re- 
search is likewise an indispensable requirement for the under- 
standing of the authors. But this recognition is required in the 
rules governing certification and the university instruction makes 
ample provision for it, so that I can pass it by without any 
further elaboration. Touching the matter of philosophy I 
would simply refer to what has been said above and only ob- 
serve in conclusion that the teacher of philology needs both 
classical and modern training. The value of the ancients is 
greatly enhanced when viewed in the light of the modern man. 

2. Modern Languages. {French and English.) — The 
duties of the modern philologist are essentially different 
from those of the teacher of ancient languages. As a mat- 
ter of course the instruction in modern languages is likewise 
supposed to contribute to a deeper understanding of language 
in general, but the most important aim still remains the prac- 
tical command of the language of a modern people and to enable 
the pupils to understand the language quickly and correctly 
and to speak and write it with facility. It is therefore the 
first and most important duty of the teacher to acquire this 
knowledge himself. To this end, after preliminary intensive 
theoretical study at home — but not without this foundation 
— a prolonged stay among the people whose native language it 
is is the best method. It is far less important that the student 
should complete a course of study or research in Paris or Lon- 
don and to this end spend days in the libraries. He will ac- 
complish his purpose far better by hearing lectures on language 
and literature, visiting parliament and courts of law and seek 
every opportunity to practice the living use of the language 
himself. If he has acquired a correct expression — if possible 
with phonetic appreciation — as well as facility in speech and a 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 107 

rich vocabulary, especially in reference to the common things 
of life, he has accomplished a great, perhaps the greatest part 
of his educational duty. As matters stand at present the chief 
concern of the teacher of modern languages is the ability to 
use the language. 

Historical grammar and the literature of the language under 
consideration occupies so large a place in the conduct of the 
university and in the certificate requirements, that students 
are not greatly tempted to neglect these things. That the 
teacher must have a general knowledge of the literature is self- 
evident. And it is quite as evident that he would carefully 
study the suggestive relations of foreign literatures to the 
German. And the modern philologist should be acquainted 
with ancient literature and mythology. 

Psychological training is quite as important in instruction in 
modern linguistics as in ancient. French offers exceptionally 
rich material in the matter of the position of the words and 
variation of meaning. It is of course not always easy in the 
highly developed and consequent highly complicated nature of 
modern language, to discover the psychological thread, but 
the search for it is even more interesting for this very reason. 
At any rate French teachers should never forget, that it was 
the masters of romance philology preeminently who insisted on, 
practiced and cultivated the psychological method of language 
interpretation. 

3. German (as subject of instruction). The teacher of 
German requires philosophical training and an acquaintance 
with general literature. He should have a complete command 
of the language, facility in speech and a taste for poetry. 
Many teachers of German are not sufficiently familiar with 
their own literature, which must be regarded the very first 
and most important duty of the Germanist. The masterpieces 
of Lessing, Schiller, Goethe, Grillparzer, Kleist and even Heb- 
bel and Otto Ludwig should be so thoroughly familiar in all 
their details to the teacher of German that everything they con- 
tain should be at his command at any moment. And he should 
also have a first hand knowledge of the works of the sixteenth 
and seventeenth centuries. 

The study of the old German language and literature is like- 
wise necessary. Anyone wishing to fully assimilate the German 



io8 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

nature and the German spirit must be thoroughly familiar with 
the development of the German language, with its legendary- 
poetry, with chivalry and the Minnesingers. But here there 
may be too much of the good thing. The study of the Gothic 
and other old germanic languages requires much time and 
energy, and the student who applies himself diligently may read- 
ily find that he has but little time left for modern literature. 
But the latter is undoubtedly of far greater value. In actual 
practice he will never have occasion to read the Nibelungenlied 
and Walther with his pupils for more than a semester, whilst he 
will constantly use accurate knowledge of modern literature 
in both the higher and lower classes and can never know enough 
of it. And there is still another fact requiring mention. Mod- 
ern literary science has developed a method of its own during 
the last decades which is essentially different from that of the 
old philology. 

If the Germanist is to be a modern man — and the teacher 
of German must be, even more so than the other secondary 
teachers — it is a matter of first importance that he devote his 
undivided effort to penetrating as deeply as possible into the 
matter and spirit of German literature from the sixteenth cen- 
tury onward. No one can ever fully appreciate the literature of 
a people without considering it in connection with their re- 
ligious, political, social, technical, scientific and economic de- 
velopment. The Germanist therefore needs a vast amount 
of knowledge of the history of civilization. The frequent 
combination of German and history among secondary teachers 
is consequently quite fortunate, and its still greater frequency 
(highly desirable. Thus, e.g., the historically trained Germanist 
perceives at once that the rise of the political drama in the 
middle of the eighteenth century {The London Merchant and 
Miss Sara Sampson) finds Its real explanation in the social and 
economic advance of the citizen class. The closing lines of 
Chamisso's poem " Die Weiber von Welnsberg " : 

" Im Jahr 1140, wo ich's verzeichnet fand, 
Gait Konigswort noch heilig im deutchen Vaterland." 

are incomprehensible without the historical knowledge that at 
the time when Chamisso wrote the poem several German princes 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 109 

had promised their people constitutions, but failed to fulfill the 
promises. 

The Germanist will also find a knowledge of general litera- 
ture indispensable. Leasing, Schiller, Goethe and Grillparzer 
contain linguistic and factual reminiscences of Ovid, Vergil and 
Horace in no inconsiderable number and lack of familiarity 
with these poets has even resulted in erroneous conceptions 
among learned investigators of our own age. 

The value of philosophical training for the teacher of Ger- 
man likewise requires emphasis. In order to appreciate Schil- 
ler's philosophical Lyrics an acquaintance with Kant's aesthetics 
and ethics is of special importance. Any one, e.g., who wishes 
to understand and interpret the pearl of Schiller's Thought- 
poems, " The Ideal and the Life," must know Kant's " Funda- 
mental Principles of the Metaphysics of Ethics " and *' The 
Critique of Practical Reason." Thus the two lines of the 
first strophe: 

" Zwischen Sinnengliick und Seelenfrieden bleibt dem Men- 
schen nur die bange Wahl," are incomprehensible except from 
the viewpoint of Kant's rigoristic theory of morality. So like- 
wise the line : " Kein Erschaffner hat das Ziel erflogen." 
Lessing's " Laokoon " contains passages whose sense can only 
be appreciated by those who are acquainted with Baumgarten's 
theory of the beautiful. But whilst the knowledge of certain 
philosophical systems contributes chiefly to the better under- 
standing of certain poems and particular passages, psychological 
training is indispensable for the whole treatment of grammar 
and interpretation and we accordingly emphasize once more the 
fact that every Germanist even as every other philologist must 
be a trained psychologist. 

We might summarize these requirements as follows: The 
teacher of German above all else needs a comprehensive his- 
torico-philosophic and a literary-aesthetic training. He must 
have a complete mastery of the language, culture and literature 
of the German people both in its progressive development and 
in the climax of its achievement. And further he must have 
an acquaintance with general literature and acquired the ability 
to penetrate his subject both psychologically and philosophically. 

4. History. The secondary teacher of history needs two 
things in particular. He must seek to attain a general con- 



no Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

spectus of general historical evolution of the human race from 
pre-historic times to the present. In order to accomplish the 
real object of historical instruction, the development of the 
historic sense, the teacher must have the whole course of de- 
velopment in mind at every class period, so as to be able to 
direct attention to the relation of events and the various paral- 
lels in historical phenomena. In addition to this he must have 
at his command a wealth of information on the epochal periods 
of history so as to be able to describe them vividly and im- 
pressively. It is not an easy matter to meet both these require- 
ments but they are both indispensable to the successful imparta- 
tion of historical instruction. A more intimate coordination 
of philology and history would materially reduce the difficulties 
of prospective teachers. The classical philologist must at the 
same time master Greek and Roman history and he would not 
find any great difficulty in familiarizing himself with the other 
periods in addition. The same principle applies to the teacher 
of modern languages and especially so to the teacher of German. 
Such a coordination with philology together with a correspond- 
ing separation from Geography, which always tends to develop 
in the direction of the natural sciences, would bring great gain 
to instruction in both philology and history. 

The student can most readily acquire a survey of the evolu- 
tion of civilization by taking a course of lectures on the subject 
under a spirited lecturer on universal history. But under 
present conditions the universal historians are constantly be- 
coming more rare. Karl Lamprecht has announced his purpose 
upon the completion of his history of the Germans to devote 
himself to general history, and it is to be hoped that his famous 
institute in Leipzig may soon produce men with broad outlook 
and an appreciation of the universal who will greatly reduce the 
difficulties of future generations of teachers of history in the 
matter of the correlation of events. But even if the university 
makes no provision, the future teacher of history cannot repudi- 
ate this exceedingly important professional duty. He must 
acquire a general conspectus of the evolution of human culture 
by his own individual study. Working through a History 
of the World extending through many volumes is ill adapted 
to this purpose. In the first place this would require a number 
of years and then the wealth of details would increase the 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher ill 

difficulty of grasping It as a unitary whole. Permit me to 
suggest to the young historian what may perhaps sound some- 
what like fatherly advice. Read Schiller's Inaugural address 
at frequent Intervals, master it thoroughly and Illustrate its 
principles by examples of your own. It seems to me this ad- 
dress Is nothing short of w^onderful in the abundance of sug- 
gestions and Ideas it contains which can only now be correctly 
and fully utilized. Thus, e.g., Schiller's suggestion concerning 
the use to be made of the reports of the wanderings of primi- 
tive tribes In the reconstruction of the history of primitive man 
can only be fully appreciated In our own age on account of the 
extraordinary increase in the amount of material at our com- 
mand and Its elaboration by modern anthropology. The ob- 
servation Illustrated by an example, that the explanation of 
every particular fact of the present time Involves the whole 
hlstorj^ of the world is likely to inspire the historic sense more 
powerfully and instructively than an extended dissertation. 
If the prospective historian takes the trouble to illustrate these 
principles with new examples of his own and to get a clear 
grasp of them he will find that he is making substantial progress. 

The old question whether history reveals any laws has re- 
cently been very widely and thoroughly discussed. Windel- 
band and RIckert have taken a decidedly negative attitude and 
maintain that history in Its very nature differs from natural 
science by the very fact that history has nothing to do with 
the Investigation of general laws, but confines itself to separate 
facts. It is the business of the science of history — according 
to RIckert — to select from among these facts such as have 
cultural value. That Is to say, RIckert conceives history as a 
science of facts on the one hand and of culture on the other 
and as distinguished from natural science by these two charac- 
teristics. History specialists will in a general way readily 
adopt this conception. They no longer regard It their business 
to search for the principles of historical development; they can 
become wholly absorbed in their particular problem without 
being annoyed by any philosophical scruples. 

This conception would also be very acceptable to the history 
teacher, if RIckert had not materially reduced its value by his 
attitude toward scientific psychology. RIckert does not wish to 
deny the possibility of " the historian being able to learn some- 



112 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

thing from scientific psychology." He is of the opinion how- 
ever that in the majority of cases " the general conceptual 
knowledge which he has already acquired in the pre-scientific 
stage is sufficient for his purposes." And he adds, " In fact he 
may perhaps find that his prescientific general knowledge will be 
a safer guide than any psychological theories, becau-se his de- 
scriptions will thus be more readily understood by all who share 
these ideas with him than would be possible with the use of 
technical terms." 

This will not inspire the historian who reads it to give much 
attention to the study of psychology. He will rather feel that 
he is superior to it. From my point of view therefore I must 
protest against it most vigorously. I am thoroughly of the 
opinion that an intensive study of the human soul is the only 
way for the historian to acquire an insight into the nature of 
history and a knowledge of the real significance of instruction 
in history. If, as Rickert claims, history is really to be a cul- 
tural science, we must be able to show clearly what benefit man 
may derive from a knowledge of his spiritual history. It should 
be the aim of the history teacher to transform historical truths 
into living realities with a view to enlarging the minds of his 
pupils with new powers. And this is certainly impossible with- 
out a knowledge of the general laws of spiritual development, 
i.e., if he is nothing more than acquainted with human nature, 
but at the same time a scientific psychologist. 

Rickert refers tO' the fact that many great historians paid 
little or no attention to the scientific psychology of their age, 
and concludes, even with direct reference to Lamprecht, that 
the application of scientifically generalized concepts " has pro- 
duced more confusion than contributed to progress." In reply 
I should like to direct the teacher of history to Lamprecht him- 
self and urge them to learn from his History of the Germans 
and perhaps better still from his little book on Modern His- 
tory, how much help the historian can gain for the intellectual 
analysis of historical material from the study of modern scien- 
tific psychology. 

In his essay on " The Good and Bad Influence of History on 
Life," Nietzsche has described the psychological effects of the 
study of history with telling effect. Every teacher of history 
would do well to reflect on what he has to say concerning the 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 113 

" monumental " and more especially concerning the " antiqua- 
rian " type of history. It is peculiarly befitting the teacher and 
the learner of history to assume the attitude of the " perpetuator 
and worshipper, who, with fidelity and love, is peering back 
into the things from whence he has come, in which he has come 
to be." To discover facts in the common-places of life which 
point to ages long past, enlarges and enriches the soul. Our 
division of time into weeks takes us back to the ancient Bab- 
ylonians, the year to the Egyptians, the word " Kaiser " and 
the names of the months of July and August show how two 
men (Julius and Augustus Csesar) together with the empire 
they builded, extend the impress of their work even to the 
present time. To call attention to such facts as these is one 
of the important duties of the historian, who should always 
begin with the living realities of the present. He may indeed 
learn from Nietzsche's essay just cited that there is also such 
a thing as historic excess, which is harmful, that he may be the 
more concerned to seek diligently for what is useful in history. 

A general conspectus, psychological penetration, and vital ap- 
preciation of the present, might therefore be called the primary 
requirements of the teacher of history. In addition to this he 
needs a wealth of detailed information, as previously observed. 
This requires the historian to make investigations of the sources 
in various periods. These enable him to get hold of threads 
on various phases, familiarize him with the records and permit 
him to penetrate more deeply into the period under considera- 
tion at definite points. 

I would also recommend to the history teacher the careful 
reading of collections of letters and memoirs, because they 
convey a more vivid picture of epochs or persons than anything 
else. 

Political history, notwithstanding the criticisms brought 
against it during recent decades, will remain for a long time to 
come the chief business of the historian. It constitutes the 
foundation upon which civilization builds. Edward Meyer has 
just recently emphasized this view In the introductory volume of 
his History of Antiquity (3 ed. 1910), a book which every 
teacher of history should certainly have read. " But even 
the separation of the history of civilization from political his- 
tory Is only relatively justified. For just as man and the 



114 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

human social group is a spiritual unit, so likewise is his historical 
life; the real and highest duty of the science of history can 
therefore be nothing less than the description of this life in 
its totality. Hence it follows without further comment, that 
of the two political history holds the dominant place.^ For 
the political compact governs the external organization, upon 
which the existence and manner of life of all its subjects de- 
pends, its fortunes therefore not only have a direct effect upon 
each individual, but likewise reacts upon every institution for 
which it is responsible and hence are likewise of vital significance 
to the cultural and economic life." 

This is not intended to mean that the historian is simply re- 
quired to study the history of states and their territorial changes. 
His aim to comprehend mankind in its totality however pre- 
cludes his indifference to the evolution of religion, science and 
art. An understanding of the various economic institutions and 
consequently, some familiarity with the basal principles of po- 
litical economy is peculiarly valuable to the teacher of history. 
The economic conception of history proposed by Marx and 
Engels fails to do full justice to certain phases of historical 
development, but it nevertheless furnishes an important heuristic 
principle. In every case of a great world-movement we must 
seek for the economic motives and we may rest assured that this 
setting of the problem will yield a profounder understanding of 
the period under consideration. 

It naturally follows from the economic interpretation of 
history that the historian must make a study of the legal con- 
ditions of social organization and he must therefore acquire a 
knowledge of the fundamental principles of jurisprudence. 
These are likewise of vast importance in political history and 
even on this account indispensable to the historian. 

It is of course not necessary that the teacher of history make 
a systematic study of all these branches. He cannot be a 
specialist in theology, art, economics and law combined. He 
must simply keep clearly in mind the fact that all history be- 
gins with present conditions and in the final analysis its aim is to 
enrich and invigorate the present generation. If, actuated 
by this idea, he is careful to understand the spirit of his own 
age, to comprehend its economic conditions and its social char- 

1 1 do not think tso. : 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 115 

acteristics, he will readily discover the ways and means adapted 
to his individuality for acquiring the necessary information. 

5. Philosophical Propaedeutic. This department may be 
correlated with the mathematics-natural science disciplines quite 
as well as with those of philology. I introduce my discussion 
of this topic at this point chiefly for the reason that I have 
approached philosophy through philology and in giving instruc- 
tion in philosophical propaedeutic for a number of years made it 
a practice in the treatment of logic and psychology to draw 
materials from grammar and literature as well as from mathe- 
matics and physics. 

Any one who has already decided while a student at the 
university to prepare for teaching philosophical branches will 
naturally make a thorough study of philosophical problems and 
particularly history of philosophy. The teacher's success in 
inspiring his pupils to reflective thought will largely depend on 
how much of a philosopher he is himself. It is evident that the 
teacher will naturally incline towards teaching those parts of 
philosophy which are most intimately related with his specialty. 
And this is by no means a disadvantage as is witnessed by the 
express mention made of it in the Austrian Regulations of the 
year 1900 (p. 274) . We read : " The difference of specialized 
training of the teacher not only pertains to his relation to 
the text book, but to the whole matter of instruction. In case 
he has specialized in history and language he will naturally take 
a different attitude to certain parts of logic and psychology 
than if he had specialized in mathematics and the natural 
sciences. But this difference of coloring of all instruction, so 
far as results are concerned, is on the whole not objectionable." 
The teacher should rather strive to impress the full force of his 
scientific and personal individuality. Otherwise his teach.- 
ing will lack inspiration, and in philosophical propaedeutic in- 
spiration is the chief thing. 

Notwithstanding this however we must note the fact that 
in logic instruction the examples of physics and mathematics 
are indispensable. The philologist who teaches propaedeutic 
must cultivate these departments sufficiently to acquire a mas- 
tery of the fundamental concepts. To secure results in the 
teaching of logic requires a wide variety of illustration. It is of 
great importance to have at command a large store of examples 



Ii6 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

and to possess sufficient knowledge to criticise the examples sub- 
mitted by the pupils both formally and from the viewpoint of 
fact. 

I should like to offer a suggestion to teachers and especially 
to the future authors of text books in logic. T^ere is a field 
which offers a rich store of most interesting examples that would 
almost always be readily understood, that has not yet been 
utilized in instruction nearly as much as it should be. I refer 
to jurisprudence and Its practical application. Here the proc- 
esses of logic appear in their purity and at the same time 
in such variety as scarcely occurs anywhere else. Here we find 
the process of the subsumption of the particular case under the 
general principle, a detailed analysis of the facts in the case 
and the selection of the pertinent elements, and finally, a vast 
variety of processes of inference. The teacher of logic who 
has the opportunity and the taste to make a study of legal 
procedure will be in position to vitalize his instruction to a 
remarkable degree. He will gradually make the discovery 
that logic is far from being the supreme lawgiver of thought 
as It has usually been regarded for more than two thousand 
years. The role of logic in science and the aifairs of life is 
far more modest than that. It must confine Itself to a single 
problem, namely, to give us a clear conception by showing the 
precise relation of Ideas the amount of universal and at- 
tested experience, contained In every particular experience or 
In every complex of experiences. The real problem of logic 
is the analysis and organization of Ideas. It is not the business 
of logic to decide questions of truth or error. This can only 
be done by a profound penetration Into the actual conditions 
involved by the facts. The examples drawn from legal prac- 
tice reveal this very clearly. Logic, consisting of the analysis 
and organization of thought, reveals the psychological, social, 
economic and moral relationships. It makes it possible for us to 
survey the whole field and finally form our conclusions on the 
basis of a thorough comprehension of the dominant truth. 

That is to say, as I am thoroughly convinced, we are in need 
of a logic which Is based on an empirical foundation. 

If the teacher has convinced himself of the necessity of such 
a treatment of the subject he will lay stress on the theory of 
method and direct his efforts towards a more comprehensive 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 117 

and a more profound understanding of the nature of scientific 
procedure. And thus he will constantly increase his ability 
to advance the scientific training of his pupils by his instruction 
in logic. 

Psychology seems to me to be the more important part of pro- 
paedeutic instruction. The matter of primary importance here 
is that the teacher should be as thoroughly trained a psycholo- 
gist as possible. He should be familiar with the results and 
the methods of experimental psychology, and at the same time 
never neglect the introspective element. This phase of psy- 
chology is by far the most important. The zealous teacher 
will find that every time he repeats the same subject new 
phases will be revealed and that it is a matter of genuine satis- 
faction to have the opportunity to study it again. Spiritual life 
is so inexhaustively rich that the investigator is constantly dis- 
covering something new. Has not even Heraclitus observed: 
** You cannot search out the confines of the soul, even though 
you should step off every avenue, so profound is its depth." 

It seems to me important that the teacher of psychology be at 
home in literature and art. Nothing so inspires the pupils of 
the higher classes than the psychological analysis of several 
scenes of a familiar poem. They participate eagerly and thus 
acquire practice in psychological analysis and at the same time 
get a better understanding of the poets. It is no longer a 
matter of question that the psychologist must understand the 
fundamental facts of physiology. It is perhaps more neces- 
sary here to warn against an excess of ph5^siology, than to insist 
upon its study. Physiology furnishes no information whatever 
concerning the nature of the psychical process, no matter how 
it may be stated, it only describes the phenomena which ac- 
company it. 

Personally I regard it far more important that the teacher 
should be familiar with the theory of evolution and acquire 
the assurance that everything psychical bears the most intimate 
relation to the preservation and enrichment of life. In my 
Text Book of Psychology I have attempted to apply the bio- 
logical point of view to the whole field of mental activity, and 
I think I have demonstrated the fruitfulness of this method. 
The whole process of thought and cognition appears in a new 
light, the nature of attention, the origin of the concepts, all 



Ii8 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

of these become clear and vital. The theory of the emotions 
likewise profits quite as much by this method of interpretation. 
And we may add that in recent years many biologists are giving 
increased attention to the influence of psychical processes and 
express the conviction that it is utterly impossible to reduce 
the phenomena of life to mechanical and chemical processes. 
This gives increased significance to the biological viewpoint in 
psychology. 

The teacher of psychology readily finds occasion to treat of 
ethical and aesthetic problems in the course of his instruction. 
It is exceedingly desirable therefore that he should feel at 
home in these fields. Here the evolutionary viewpoint is like- 
wise richly suggestive. I should like to direct attention in this 
connection to the very valuable and instructive work by Wester- 
marck, Origin and Development of Moral Ideas. 

Summarizing, I might say that the teacher of philosophical 
propaedeutic should make the synthesis of versatility and thor- 
oughness so indispensable to every secondary teacher his own 
motto in even greater degree. 

B. Mathematics and the Natural Sciences 

I. Mathematics. At the universities the mathematicians oc- 
cupy themselves almost exclusively with the so-called higher 
mathematics, i.e., with differential and integral calculus, the 
theory of functions, etc. This knowledge contains scarcely any- 
thing that can be adapted to any practical use in instruction. 
The importance attaching to rigorous scientific discipline has 
frequently given rise to the expression of 'the wish that elemen- 
tary mathematics also be explained and deduced in strict scien- 
tific fashion at the university. Director Joseph Jacob, in an 
important pamphlet on the Austrian Secondary School, among 
other things, calls attention to the fact that the history of 
mathematics abounds in suggestions for the teacher, and recom- 
mends the reading of the classics of mathematics. He also 
insists that the mathematician should seek a clear understand- 
ing of the logical functions which he employs. 

And I might add that in addition to the history of mathe- 
matics and the logic of mathematics the psychology of the 
mathematical process is of vast importance to the teacher. 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher 119 

He should seek, by means of Independent reflection, and also by 
suitable experiments with himself and his colleagues, to acquire 
a clear conception of the significance of the constructive imagina- 
tion, the memory and finally iof abstract thought in mathe- 
matics. He may perhaps in this way discover criteria by which 
to distinguish mathematical talent. He will at least discover 
by such investigations that industry and intensive repetition 
accomplish more in mathematical training than is generally 
supposed. According to my experience it would appear that the 
most essential mathematical principles may be acquired even 
without exceptional talent, and this seems to me after all to be 
the chief object of mathematical instruction. 

It is also important that the teacher of mathematics acquire 
some knowledge of practical affairs in order that he may un- 
derstand the application of the mathematical formulae to survey- 
ing, military operations, the insurance business, etc. I have 
shown above that these formulae only acquire real significance 
in physics. 

2. Physics and Chemistry. It is matter of first importance 
to the teacher of these two subjects that he begin to practice ex- 
perimentation early and familiarize himself with the apparatus. 
But on this point it is necessary to observe that experiments 
entered upon for the ultimate purpose of research do not impart 
a sufiicient degree of acquaintance and familiarity for the pur- 
poses of the teacher. They must be exercises which deal pre- 
dominantly with the school experiments, which clearly reveals 
the law which is being illustrated in its universal significance. 

The necessity of mathematical training for the physicist and 
the chemist is so universally acknowledged and so constantly im- 
pressed on the students as to make any reference to it here 
superfluous. On the other hand it seems worth while to 
emphasize even here that the teacher should master the methods 
of investigation and the instruments of thought which are con- 
stantly becoming more exact. Here also the history of their 
subjects will be of great service to them. 

In optics and acoustics and partly also in the theory of heat 
the physicist comes into touch with the physiology of the senses 
as well as the psychology of sense perception. He must know 
enough psychology to distinguish precisely the physical, the phys- 
iological and the psychical phases of the process. Pitch is doubt- 



I20 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

less a function of the wave length, but the power of distinguish- 
ing higher and lower tones, as well as arranging in orderly- 
series nevertheless rests upon psychical dispositions. Physicists 
without psychological training frequently fall into gross mis- 
understandings at this point. 

It is also well for the physicist to know practical affairs and 
especially to study the technical use of the knowledge of nature. 
It is not an easy task for the teacher to keep abreast of the 
progress of the age, especially in the case of those located in 
small country towns. For this purpose the vacation courses 
are to be strongly recommended. These furnish the teacher 
with the latest discoveries and improvements made in his sci- 
ence. 

3. Natural history. The scientific development of zoology 
and botany has resulted in placing morphology and biology in 
the foreground at the present time. It follows as a natural 
consequence that students chiefly confine themselves to investi- 
gations to which the primitive organisms are better adapted 
than those more highly developed. Important as these in- 
vestigations are for an understanding of the elementary organic 
processes and valuable as they can be made for the purposes of 
instruction, we must not forget that the teacher of these sub- 
jects dare not neglect more extensive, systematic information. 
He must have complete knowledge of the fauna and flora of 
his own territory, otherwise he will be required to refer to his 
guide-book too frequently when making excursions with his 
pupils. He should also be informed on the forms and condi- 
tions of life in the plant and animal kingdom in other lands. 

It scarcely requires mention that the teacher of natural 
history must understand the use of the microscope and scalpel 
and be able to show others how to use them. The more he 
makes use of them the greater the likelihood of inspiring in- 
terest on the part of the pupils. It is also generally conceded 
now that the botanist and zoologist likewise make considerable 
use of chemistry and physics. The treatment of the nervous 
system in human anatomy and physiology brings the teacher 
into vital touch with psychology and here also, just as in the 
case of physics, it is important to make clear distinctions be- 
tween the physiological and psychical phases of the various 
processes. 



The Scientific Problem of the Secondary Teacher I2I 

The vast importance recently attained by animal and vegeta- 
ble geography requires the historian of nature to make a study of 
geography and the history of origins. It would even be well 
if he were also prepared for the teaching of geography. 

4. Geography. The extraordinary progress in the depart- 
ment of geography has been accompanied by a most gratifying 
activity in the sphere of methods. Here in Austria Penck 
especially has trained a whole generation of exceptionally fine 
teachers who, equipped with methods that are scientifically at- 
tested, know how to inspire the interest of their pupils. These 
circumstances relieve me of the necessity of enlarging on the 
duty of the teacher of geography. 

We have now discussed the professional problems of the 
secondary teacher both in general and in detail. The guiding 
thought throughout this discussion has been the difficult combina- 
tion of versatility and thoroughness with the positive (in an- 
tithesis to the critical) tendency. The professional equipment 
of the secondary teacher constitutes the indispensable foundation 
for the exercise of his calling, which consists of teaching and 
training. As we now turn our attention to the didactic prob- 
lems of our vocation we shall likewise discover new and difficult 
syntheses. We shall also make the positive tendency the guiding 
principle in our didactic problems. 



CHAPTER IV 

DIDACTICS 

I. General Principles of Method 

THE purpose we should seek to realize on behalf of our 
pupils, we trust, has been made sufficiently clear in the 
discussions contained in chapter two the results of which are 
summarized in the form of brief propositions on page 83. 
It is our duty to train the pupils which we receive from the 
elementary schools to intellectual independence and a sense 
of moral responsibility and thus prepare them for both the 
university and practical life. And we have proposed the im- 
partation of a general education, consisting of the discipline of 
intellect, feeling and will as the means best adapted to this 
end. We have described the kind of intellectual discipline 
belonging to the secondary school as scientific training. 

This accordingly defines the aim and at the same time fur- 
nishes the cue to the course of study. But on the other hand 
these definitions say nothing about the methods we shall have to 
employ in order to realize the desired goal. The matter of 
method therefore is one of the most difficult of the didactic prob- 
lems of the secondary school. True, we have an abundant 
literature on methods in the various branches. And there is no 
lack of general advice on such matters as fidelity to duty, and 
professional dignity, conduct in and out of school, relation to 
pupils, parents, colleagues and to the educational authorities. 
But of the general psychological and didactic principles which 
must form the basis of the whole business of teaching, of the 
well-established and evident principles which should govern 
every secondar}^ teacher we scarcely find any clearly elaborated 
statement anywhere. It seems to me, if mutual cooperation, 
unfortunately sadly lacking among us, is to become an actual 
fact and produce the desired results that some such statement 
is absolutely necessary. The nature of our method of teaching 

122 



Didactics 123 

is entirely unique and, if we are to fulfill our vocation in any 
degree, requires the realization of most difficult combinations. 
We shall have to learn from our colleagues in the public school 
not only how to impart the materials of instruction and render 
them comprehensible, but even to so infuse it into the whole 
school so as to become the complete possession of the pupils. We 
must endeavor to perfect ourselves in this method which is 
the only one possible in the lower grades, and at the same time 
seek to get the secret of success in getting the pupils to do in- 
dependent work, from our university instructors, especially 
those who conduct practical courses. We are supposed to 
develop intellectual independence and the sense of moral re- 
sppnsibility and at the same time maintain our authority. We 
are supposed to impart positive information and at the same 
time we must never forget that the permanent possession of 
this information and skill is not the most important thing so far 
as our pupil is concerned, but much rather that the effort re- 
quired in the acquisition of the facts and the discipline of mind 
and character thus brought about must be regarded as the 
permanent result. 

It is not a simple task to meet such varied requirements. But 
we have frequently observed before; difficult and impossible are 
two entirely different things, and obstacles are capable of being 
overcome. Our pupils are under our care for a period of 
from seven to nine years, certainly not too short a time. Dur- 
ing these years our pupils pass the pubertal period which works 
a profound change in personality. Particularly an intense im- 
pulse towards independence reveals itself during this period. 
This impulse is by no means to be forcefully suppressed. It is 
rather our duty to furnish this natural impulse its proper 
nurture and guidance. We receive the pupils from the public 
school where they were accustomed to do their study in the 
school. In the lower classes we must therefore pursue the same 
method. But even then we shall have to require a small amount 
of work at home in order to awaken the sense of responsibility. 
Training and developing the sense of responsibility is in fact 
our most important problem. And here unfortunately there 
is much wanting from two points of view. On the one hand 
we frequently require and expect a greater degree of intellec- 
tual and moral independence from the pupils of the lower classes 



124 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

than their psychological capacity permits. And on the other 
hand we hold the pupils of the more advanced classes so firmly 
to leading strings, that they find the gymnasium an intolerable 
restraint from which there is no hope of escape. It is in fact not 
an easy matter, in seeking to develop independence, always 
to strike the psychological moment, the correct tack and stay 
within the proper bounds of conduct. 

I have experienced a growing consciousness of these difficul- 
ties, throughout the course of my professional career, but I have 
at the same time seen that they are by no means insuperable. 
I have found it comparatively easy in the lower classes to drill 
in the lessons effectively during school hours and at the same 
time require a small amount of outside work of the pupils da^y. 
I have always kept a strict oversight of these lessons with the 
result that the required work soon became so habitual with 
the pupils that only in the rarest cases would a pupil fail to 
show results. In the more advanced classes moreover I made 
it a point to establish the same habit of preparation, always ap- 
pealing to the pupil's independence as strongly as possible. I 
have even gone so far as to challenge them to criticise my lec- 
tures and have more than once had occasion in both the higher 
classes in logic and psychology to say to the pupils: "And 
so you do not accept everything I say." And only in the rarest 
instances was it necessary to apply or suggest disciplinary penal- 
ties. Neither was there any evidence that the incitement to 
independent judgment and my direct challenge of criticism af- 
fected my authority in the least. The contrary y^^as rather the 
case. 

My psychological and philosophical studies suggested the 
effort to reduce my didactic experience to system and base it on 
general principles. To this end I first of all sought fellowship 
with colleagues of the public school, among whom methodical 
confidence is usually greater than among us. I gained much 
inspiration and information from two summer courses for 
public and high school teachers at which I was one of the lec- 
turers. At first it appeared to me that instruction is more diffi- 
cult in the public school than in ours, and this chiefly on account 
of the fact that the public school has no such means of eliminat- 
ing the incapable and indolent pupils as we have. Upon deeper 
reflection however I discovered, by means of careful observation 



Didactics 125 

of the teachers' conferences, that this duty of sifting devolving 
upon us, whilst reducing the difficulties, in no way results in any 
improvement in the instruction. We are too much Inclined to 
shift the poor results of teaching to the Indolence, limited 
capacity or inadequate preparation of the pupils and frequently 
neglect to ask ourselves conscientiously whether we have really 
done everything in our power to overcome these difficulties. 

The difference in the matter of methods between the public 
and the secondary school lies in an entirely different quarter. 
The knowledge of the subject matter to be imparted in the 
public school is comparatively easy for the teacher, almost a 
matter of self-evidence. With us on the contrary the subject- 
matter is frequently quite complex and difficult. It Is no small 
task for the teacher to master the material, and make it com- 
pletely his own. Not infrequently we must first learn what 
we are to teach. And we must add the further fact: namely, 
the university has accustomed us to systematic thought, such 
as science requires. Even our courses of instruction are fre- 
quently more systematic than methodical. Hence it follows 
that the preparation for the Instruction period is frequently 
rather a scientific and systematic task. This requires a large 
measure of our energy so that but little remains for methodical 
and didactical elaboration. The synthesis of science and peda- 
gogy, discussed in the first chapter, is in fact very difficult and 
not possible for every one. 

But these obstacles involved In our scientific training and in 
the difficulty of the subject-matter must be overcome no mat- 
ter what the cost. We fail to meet our exalted social ob- 
ligation if we do not direct every energy towards making our- 
selves teachers and trainers in the fullest sense of the term. We 
are expected to Instil scientific training in our pupils and to in- 
spire in them the sense of moral responsibility. We must 
therefore search out the way, i.e., the method, that leads most 
directly and most certainly to this high goal. Many will of 
course find this way themselves. If, thoroughly equipped with 
knowledge and naturally filled with a love for youth, they 
bring to their task a fixed purpose and keep themselves under 
constant self-discipline. But the discovery of established meth- 
ods of instruction which could be applied to any kind of subject 
matter and at any stage of development would certainly sIm- 



126 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

plify this task for many teachers. I think I have discovered 
two such principles which must give direction to the whole course 
of our instruction. One of these is the awakening of interest 
and the other the habit of regular work. 

Didactically, these principles are neither new nor original. 
I might rather apply to them the profound scriptural saying 
concerning the divine law: " For this commandment which I 
command thee this day, it is not hidden from thee, neither is it 
far ofF. It is not in heaven, that thou shouldest say. Who shall 
go up for us to heaven, and bring it unto us, that we may hear 
it, and do it? Neither is it beyond the sea, that thou shouldest 
say, Who shall go over the sea for us, and bring it unto us, that 
we may hear it, and do it? But the word is very nigh unto 
thee in thy mouth, and in thy heart, that thou mayest do it." 
(Deut. 30, II— 14.) Every teacher is in position to acquire 
these principles and to make them the guiding thought of every 
period of instruction. The only point is that we comprehend the 
significance of these principles in their application to the in- 
struction of the secondary school in all its breadth and depth. 
With a view to simplifying this we shall therefore subject each 
of them to a thorough analysis. 

2. Awakening Interest as a Principle of Instruction 

The pedagogical importance of interest has long been recog- 
nized. Even Herbart regarded the many-sidedness of interest 
as the chief end of all instruction and elaborates this idea in 
detail in the second book of his General Pedagogy. Mod- 
ern text books in pedagogy and monographic literature make 
abundant reference to this topic. My reasons for adding an- 
other analytic discussion of the pedagogy of interest and for 
showing its application to the secondary school are twofold. 

The first reason is that, according to my own observations, 
we have not as yet attached sufficient importance to the awaken- 
ing of interest. Classical philologists place more stress on ac- 
curacy in grammatical construction and carefulness in prepara- 
tion than in inspiring pleasure in the reading of the classical 
authors and a genuine appreciation of antiquity on the part of 
the pupils. The mathematician places more stress on faultless 
accuracy in demonstration, the skillful manipulation of the 



Didactics 127 

formulae, the accurate arrangement of the external form and 
rigorous definitions, than on the gradual development of self- 
activity on the part of the pupils and the satisfaction accom- 
panying the sense of individual accomplishment. The historian 
wants his pupils to know dates accurately, to understand and 
recognize the growth of constitutions in their various phases, 
and fails to lay constant stress on developing the historic sense 
and inspiring the pupils with an interest in the past history of 
their own nation. Even the teachers of German who seem so 
peculiarly in position to inspire love for the mother tongue and 
an appreciation of the works of their poets and thinkers are not 
infrequently more concerned — and that especially in case they 
are exceptionally industrious professionally — that the pupils 
learn the history of literature, that they strictly follow the rules 
in their essay writings, and that they accurately learn the con- 
tent and date of each of the great productions. On the whole 
the principle of coercion still dominates us and rigorous dis- 
cipline seems to be more important than spontaneous participa- 
tion. However I should be the very last to deny the value of 
rigorous discipline. I will show in detail what importance I 
would attach to it in the discussion of the second didactic prin- 
ciple. But I am firmly of the opinion that the prerequisite to 
rigorous discipline is the quickening of the sense of satisfaction 
in one's own mental achievements. If we neglect to carefully 
cultivate this subjective satisfaction in teaching and to inspire 
pleasure in the self-activity of the intellect, in short, if we do 
not know how to enlist the interest of the pupils, then indeed 
discipline fails to reach the sanctuary of the soul and remains an 
evanescent objective constraint, a bond, to be cast aside as 
quickly as possible. On this account it seems to me of utmost 
importance to impress upon teachers that their first and most 
important duty is to inspire interest, which is in fact nothing 
more than to inspire the sense of satisfaction in the exercise 
of the native mental powers. The splendid saying of St. 
Augustine applies here: Spontaneous interest accomplishes 
more in learning than force inspired by fear. 

The second reason which leads me to place the principle of 
interest in the foreground of secondary didactics is the pro- 
founder insight into the psychical nature of interest furnished us 
by modem psychology. I have previously (p. 67) indicated 



128 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

what constitutes the nature of interest and will now attempt to 
develop it more fully. 

First of all interest is experienced as a feeling of pleasure. 
Even that in itself is of vast significance. The value of joy 
in moral development and in education is still far from receiv- 
ing adequate appreciation. Joy has an out-spreading, expansive 
as well as a concentrating energy. It furnishes us with new 
positive impulses and has something of the creative nature about 
it. Instruction that furnishes pupils with joy is valuable for 
this reason alone. The teacher who succeeds in keeping pupils 
agreeably occupied by this fact alone secures their complete ab- 
sorption in their task, the concentration of their whole mental 
energy upon it, which simply means that they are attentive. In- 
numeral^le complaints of the inattentiveness of pupils would be 
silenced if all teachers would make it their duty to inspire inter- 
est, i.e., joy in the subject on the part of the pupils. Cheerful- 
ness is therefore valuable in itself in teaching, but it is not the 
only thing. This might in fact also be accomplished by spend- 
ing the class period in exchanging jokes and having fun with the 
pupils. St. Augustine's observation, " Interest, unde quis 
gaudeat," is not an empty phrase. The source of our joy is 
not a matter of indifference. And here also the psychology of 
interest furnishes guidance. Not every kind of pleasurable 
feeling is to be ascribed to interest. Interest is rather, as 
previously shown (p. 67), functional pleasure and in fact a dis- 
tinct kind of functional pleasure. The joyous excitation and 
disposition, which we call interest, arises from the fact that we 
have been furnished an opportunity of exercising our intellec- 
tual functions in a satisfactory manner. There is a native 
demand for such mental activity and interest is nothing more 
than the pleasure arising from the satisfaction of the functional 
demands of our intellect. This conception of interest is the 
logical result of the genetic and biological method of interpreting 
the psychical process rigorously carried to its conclusion. But 
many descriptive psychologists of former and recent times have 
likewise arrived at similar conclusions. Thus, for example, 
Garve says that all satisfaction proceeds from the things which 
engage our thoughts or stimulate our sensations, and one of 
our most prominent psychologists, Karl Stumpf, defines interest 
as the pleasure accompanying the act of awareness. 



Didactics 129 

The joy which we provide for our pupils by enlisting their 
interest is therefore at the same time an incitement to self-ac- 
tivity and it is even this that constitutes the real significance of 
this didactic principle. The more frequently and intensely we 
succeed in leading the pupils to find satisfaction in their own 
thoughts and judgments, so much the better are they prepared to 
acquire scientific training and thus attain to intellectual inde- 
pendence. The frequent and intensive stimulation of their 
interest not only satisfies their intellectual requirements, but like- 
wise strengthens them. We thus bring it to pass that, to use a 
profound scriptural expression, " the draught increases the 
thirst." We must endeavor, by arousing interest, to develop 
a desire for knowledge, a kind of hungering after knowledge, 
in order that the pupils respond to our instructions sponta- 
neously and readily assimilate what is presented to them. Our 
task thus becomes easier, more pleasant and even more effective. 

Still^nother fact needs to be added. Man's pleasure-feelings 
are capable of an intense, far-reaching differentiation. This 
differentiation of the pleasure-feelings has played an important 
human civilization, an element alas, which has hitherto been 
almost wholly neglected by the historian and sociologist. The 
differentiation of the pleasure-feelings has played an important 
part, e.g., in the origin of language, and it is likewise the basis of 
the constant refinement of aesthetic enjoyment. In view of 
this possibility for differentiation our pedagogic principle ac- 
quires a new significance. 

The functional need of the intellect is present in every normal 
pupil at every period of development, within the range of our 
consideration. This need is satisfied in a variety of waj^s by the 
different subjects of instruction. Presupposing that all teachers 
understand how to enlist the interest of their pupils, there are 
therefore many kinds of functional pleasure, and, if I am per- 
mitted to say so, the pupils' capacity for intellectual pleasure is 
thus differentiated and the sphere of his mental life greatly en- 
larged. In this way the disadvantages which attend the ex- 
cessive variety of subjects of instruction are at least in part 
overcome. 

The differentiation of the pleasure-feelings is important 
likewise from the fact that we are thus led, by our effort to 
awaken interest, to observe the individuality of our pupils. In 



130 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

one case we find that the functional needs of the intellect are 
peculiarly satisfied by the analysis of the forms of speech, an- 
other by a difficult mathematical problem, a third is incited to 
independent activity by the study of a plant. However I do 
not wish myself to be classed with the pedagogues who find the 
hope of education in the intensive cultivation of onesided talent. 
But an understanding of the individuality of the pupils is nev- 
ertheless of vast importance and this is enhanced by the effective 
application of our pedagogic principle. 

That our pupils are natively endowed with intellectual func- 
tional needs arid that the satisfaction of these needs affords them 
pleasure are psychological facts which simply cannot be ruled 
out. And the inevitable logic of these facts is that the quicken- 
ing of interest is one of our most fundamental and insistent 
duties. It is not simply a matter of the teacher presenting cer- 
tain established facts and that of his understanding how to enlist 
the interest of his pupils and keep them awake during the pre- 
sentation merely signifies a creditable additional service. It 
must not be said; the chief thing is that the pupils learn 
something, either with or without interest, as to this it matters 
little. We must rather be filled with the conviction that the 
enlistment of interest is the very first thing which we must 
seek to attain and that every lesson is valueless in which the 
pupils were not incited to pleasurable self-activity. 

Before proceeding to discuss the practical significance and 
application of this pedagogic principle I must explain another 
misconception that frequently attaches to the words " interest " 
and " interesting." When we insist on instruction being in- 
teresting to the pupils, some seem to think that it means the 
addition of inspiring suggestions, original settings, and perhaps 
even all kinds of sarcasm. And since not every teacher is skilled 
in this kind of thing, it produces a profound opposition, in fact 
even a kind of contempt for teachers with a reputation of being 
" interesting." " It is of course very nice," it is frequently ob- 
served, " if one can do it, to attract and stimulate the pupils 
with all kinds of novelties, but the actual learning nevertheless 
thereby suffers harm." In answer to such views, which I have 
frequently heard expressed, I must protest most emphatically 
that in advocating interest as the most important pedagogic prin- 
ciple I have never meant, even in the remotest way, inspiring 



Didactics 13 1 

suggestions and sarcasm. It does not require *' spirit " to inspire 
interest. It simply requires the serious purpose to so arrange 
the matter of instruction that it will not consist merely of recita- 
tion and drill, but so as to furnish the pupils the opportunity 
of exercising their own intellectual powers in a pleasurable way. 
I shall attempt to illustrate this by several examples in what fol- 
lows. 

3. Interest as a Pedagogic Principle. Its Practical 
Significance and Application 

In speaking of interest I refer exclusively to the pleasure in- 
cident to the exercise of our intellectual functions, i.e., what 
is ordinarily described as theoretical or intellectual interest. 
The word is also frequently used in the sense of benefit or ad- 
vantage, which is the older meaning of the term. The two 
meanings have been sharply differentiated in the course of their 
evolution so that the word now represents entirely different 
ideas. But an effort has been made to combine the two mean- 
ings. This is specially true of Ostermann in the monograph 
cited above. But such a forced combination makes the uses of 
the term so vague and general as to be of very little practical use 
to the teacher. If interest means every subjective participation 
and, e.g., the whole subject matter of ethics is treated under 
this head, it loses all' distinctiveness and definiteness as a peda- 
gogic principle. 

Let it be understood therefore that for us interest as a peda- 
gogic principle always mean simply the functional pleasure of 
the intellect. It is in this sense that I shall seek to indicate its 
practical significance and application. 

The fact that mental self-activity can be pleasurable and fur- 
nish subjective joy only as it effects results is quite common- 
place, but it is of profound importance in the practical applica- 
tion of this pedagogic principle. Our effort must accomplish 
something if we are to get any pleasure out of it. We have a 
good illustration of this fact, which is at once perfectly clear, 
in the case of an exercise undertaken solely for its own sake and 
not with a view to the realization of some definite end. I 
refer to the solving of conundrums. Any one who has no 
taste for conundrums and gets nothing out of them will soon lay 



132 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

aside the conundrum book which happens to fall into his hands, 
whilst some one else, who readily solves them, can occupy 
himself with it for hours. I have tried this out on myself and 
on others with the exceptionally suggestive conundrum book 
published by Franz Brentano under the title Aennigatias. Here 
it is at once evident that only successful exercisers pleasurable. 

It follows from this that the teacher, especially at the be- 
ginning of a new subject or a new division, must set the pupils to 
work in such a way as to enable them to accomplish what he 
wants quite easily, even playfully. This will produce the 
pleasurable attitude which in turn effects its creative result and 
likewise prepares the pupils for more difficult tasks. 

We must likewise remember that in the lower grades the 
pupils' need of activity is comparatively easily satisfied. Even 
the reciting of a brief passage from a foreign language gives 
them pleasure, and if a concert exercise is added, a class so 
trained can soon be given something m.ore difficult. Instead of 
any further detailed elaboration I should like to illustrate by a 
concrete example how I conceive the application of our peda- 
gogic method in a lower grade and for this purpose I select be- 
ginners' Latin. 

The reader begins for example with the sentences: Alanda 
volat and Luscinia cantat. The teacher reads the first sentence 
and has six or eight of the pupils repeat it after him, at first 
separately and then the Avhole class together. He then trans- 
lates it and has them repeat the Latin sentence again together 
with its translation. He then proceeds to the second sentence 
and proceeds in the same way. The pupils are perceptibly happy 
over the fact that they can already translate two Latin sen- 
tences and they are in an enthusiastic mood, if only the teacher 
knows how to maintain it and sets an inspiring pace. He can 
now turn to the different sound of the c in the words luscinia 
and cantat and then proceed to the more important and more 
difficult problem of Latin pronunciation. He asks, for exam- 
ple; How many syllables in volatf Answer; Two. Which is 
accented? The first. Observe, therefore, pupils; Dissyllables 
in Latin alv/aj^s have the accent on the first syllable. Does the 
same principle apply to the pronunciation of German? The 
answers are indefinite and varied. Mention several German 
dissyllables which accent the first syllable. The pupils respond 



Didactics 133 

with : Vater, Mutter, Bruder, Schwester, etc. But now men- 
tion some dissyllables that are accented on the second syllable. 
The pupils respond: gerecht, bequem, gefiihrt, gescheit, etc. 
Observe therefore, this never happens in Latin. All dissyllables 
in Latin are accented on the first syllable. Thus far it has 
been easy and all the pupils could easily follow. And it is just 
this fact that has developed the enthusiastic attitude which per- 
mits us to proceed a step further. How many syllables in 
alanda? Three. Pronounce the accented syllable? Lan. 
What syllable is it counting from the end of the word? The 
pupil may not understand this at once. We therefore ask: 
How do you pronounce the last syllable ? Answer : Da. What 
then would you call lanf The next to the last. Very well. 
We have a trisyllable here in which the next to the last syllable is 
accented. Where have we had another word of more than two 
syllables ? — Several pupils respond : Luscinia. Very well. 
How niany syllables does it have ? Answer : four. How is the 
accented syllable pronounced? Answer: ci. What number 
is it from the end? And if the answer is not forthcoming, we 
ask again for the last, and then for the next to the last, and 
then show that in this case the third syllable from the last is 
accented. — Now, observe, children : In words of more than 
two syllables the accent frequently falls on the next to the last 
syllable and frequently on the third from the last. — I would 
not attempt to go further than this in the first exercise. If time 
should permit I should rather read and translate one or two 
more sentences and study the application of the rules of pro- 
nunciation just learned to the words of these sentences. 

In this way all the pupils are busy, none of them is over- 
questioned, and all follow and are able to grasp and retain 
what has been presented. The pleasure of achievement must 
be aroused and a vital enthusiasm developed which concen- 
trates and strengthens the mental powers. This is what I un- 
derstand by the principle of the quickening of interest. It is 
readily observed, this does not require any exceptional capacity 
or genius. It only requires a thorough, detailed, preparation, a 
definite aim, an enthusiastic movement and two more factors 
which every teacher must have ; patience and love. 

It has been my repeated experience that by pursuing this 
method during the first six or eight weeks practically all the 



134 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

pupils follow and I can never believe therefore that Latin is 
too difficult for ten year old children. The subject matter be- 
comes more complex farther on and the number of delinquents 
will be greater. But this is not due to the difficulty of the 
subject, but on account of the fact that our text books contain 
too much vocabulary and too much details of syntax and that 
the content of the sentences are not always capable of holding 
attention. 

I have had frequent opportunity in instruction in beginners' 
Greek to observe the creative power developed by the pleasurable 
attitude. The impression is hkewise intensified by a remarkable 
contrast effect as I shall presently show. With us in Austria 
the study of Greek begins in the third grade (corresponding 
to quarta in Germany). It is customary with us that in the 
lower grades the teacher of Greek likewise has the Latin. In 
this way it has happened that during the period of my teaching I 
have frequently been in the position of teaching Latin and 
Greek in the third grade. But the study of Latin in this grade 
is not very rich in interesting material. Cornelius Nepos is 
frequently dry bean-pods and even the lessons in grammar, the 
case-endings, are not specially attractive. On the other hand 
I, an enthusiastic admirer of the Greek language and every- 
thing Greek, have found the elementary teaching in this subject 
exceptionally interesting. Here I laid myself out, so to speak, 
and I always succeeded in enlisting the interest of the pupils with 
me. It frequently happened that I had Latin from 8 to 9 and 
Greek from g to 10. During the Latin period I tried, as a 
matter of course, to do my best to enliven the study, but it often 
happened that the dry material prevented me realizing the 
attitude I have been describing. And as a consequence the 
pupils not infrequently sat ill-humored throughout the Latin 
period. But this condition was changed completely as soon as 
we began the Greek period. It seemed to transform the class. 
Each member of the class was anxious to write a sentence on 
the board, every one paid attention and was ready to answer 
questions. It was not long until the pupils were so interested as 
to construct short Greek sentences in class from the vocabu- 
laries and forms previously learned, and this produced genuine 
enthusiasm. I could thus see what even mediocre pupils are 
capable of doing when their powers are concentrated and in- 



Didactics 135 

tenslfied by interest. I was frequently astonished at the length 
of the sentences they put together, at their making use of every- 
thing they had previously acquired, and their care that the 
sentence should make sense. I remember, e.g., that a very 
ordinary pupil, after about three months' instruction, formu- 
lated the following sentence: t^v fxlv a-rjhova ov ^Xiiroixev, ttjv Be 
<f>oivr]v avTrj<s aKovofxev. (We do not hear the nightingale, but 
we hear its voice.) Every experienced teacher will grant, after 
a little reflection, that it is not a matter of small consequence for 
a pupil to formulate a sentence such as this, in which he 
uses the fih and 8e correctly, hits upon the difficult setting of 
the pronoun and constructs it into an intelligent sentence. To 
put the matter briefly, this incitement to original composition 
in a language until but recently entirely strange had an elec- 
trical effect and I can not recommend this method too strongly. 
These consecutive periods have at least revealed to me the 
contrasting appearance between a class period with little or no 
interest and one with vital interest. It is upon such experiences 
as these that my conviction rests, that the awakening of inter- 
est is our most important pedagogic principle. 

The need of exercise, as observed above, is easily satisfied in 
the lower grades. Even jolly conjugation and declension ap- 
proaches fun. But, — and this must be said in addition — the 
pleasure which proceeds from such elementary exercise likewise 
soon grows dull. There results, therefore, for the teacher the 
by no means easy task of so arranging his instruction as to 
maintain the interest of the class. He must likewise take ac- 
count of the pupils' previous attainments and neither deter them 
by excessive requirements nor dull and weary them by elemen- 
tary exercises. This is however by no means an easy task. But 
we must nevertheless make it a rule, in every subject and at 
ever}'' stage of advancement to discover the kind of instruction 
which will bring out the spontaneous thought of the pupil in a 
pleasurable manner. According to my experiences the error 
of aiming too high in the lower grades is less serious than in aim- 
ing too low in the higher grades. 

If, e. g., an exceptionally skillful history teacher with a 
class in constitutional history in the lower grades, where the 
interest of the pupils rests more on strong personalities and 
clear, illustrative capacities, dwells too much on constitutional 



136 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

development, he will certainly be but little understood by the 
pupils. But the majority of them will nevertheless have the 
feeling that they are being given something of importance, and, 
even though they cannot follow completely, they will not re- 
main entirely inactive, but make an effort to understand. So 
also a well trained linguist, who permits himself to wander 
into comparative philology in teaching elementary Greek, will 
be making an error of method, but nevertheless inspire the inter- 
est of the majority of the pupils. 

On the other hand it is the death-blow of all teaching if a 
philologist or germanist in the advanced classes introduces too 
much grammar and meter into the expositions of the great 
poems, if he requires the recital of tedious passages and asks 
common-place questions. Grammatical construction and meter 
are exceedingly important, but simply as means to the under- 
standing of the meaning and beauty of the poetry. Here it 
means the combining of all knowledge and power, in order to 
lift, even inspire the pupils to the plane of poetry. It seems to 
me therefore that it is advisable to select such texts for the 
higher classes as will not be beyond the grasp of the average 
pupil. At this age the interest of the pupils will not be suffi- 
ciently aroused unless the questions of the teacher direct their 
attention to facts which they would otherwise have missed. But, 
if it is anywise possible, we must allow the pupils to discover 
these facts for themselves. The teacher cannot always avoid 
detailed explanations and they likewise produce good results. 
But I would warn against profuse eulogizing of the poet or his 
productions. It is an all too common experience that it is but 
a step from the sublime to the ridiculous, and our modern 
youth is strongly inclined to regard enthusiastic tirades on the 
beauties of classic poetry as a great joke. The deepest interest 
is aroused by showing the pupils the rich content of our great 
classics and the range of positive information and penetrating 
analysis required to thoroughly understand the text. When 
the pupils, under the guidance of the teacher, have attained a 
clear understanding of a difficult passage the joy of achieve- 
ment is reflected back upon the production and the sense of aes- 
thetic appreciation arises spontaneously. 

The practical significance of our pedagogic principle makes 
the profound and vital relation of interest and attention of vast 



Didactics 137 

importance. As a matter of fact, as everybody knows, the 
effect of teaching depends almost entirely on the success of se- 
curing the pupils' concentrated attention. The majority of 
teachers regard attention as the pupils' duty and hold that they 
have a right to and must require it of the pupils. Psychologi- 
cally this view is not altogether false. It is beyond question that 
we can gradually train the pupils by a prolonged volitional effort 
to concentrate attention upon the subject matter which they 
are studjang. This capacity grows with the increasing intel- 
lectual maturity of the pupil and its discipline is one of the most 
important problems in the training of the will. We shall dis- 
cuss this topic in the next chapter. But notwithstanding this 
it is quite erroneous to think that attention is exclusively or even 
chiefly a function of active volition and that the capacity for 
prolonged concentration is a native possession of all pupils from 
the start. 

From the standpoint of its origin attention is biologically the 
most important function of psychical life. We concentrate our 
organism quite unconsciously upon such processes of our environ- 
ment as have significance for the preservation of life. And there 
is likewise a kind preparation of the means of its realization 
combined with this concentration. A cat watching for a mouse 
is the objective symbol of attention. The ability to thus con- 
centrate upon the anticipated impression is deeply imbedded 
in our centralized organization and is one of the most impor- 
tant conditions for the preservation and enrichment of lifp. 

The human intellect, that mighty instrument in the strug- 
gle for existence, in the course of time develops an increasing 
variation and refinement. Its activity is serviceable to life 
and for this reason, just as everything which enhances life, it 
is correlated with a sense of pleasure. And we have seen above 
that interest is nothing more than the functional pleasure of the 
intellect. The concentration of the intellect upon the object, 
v/hich furnishes the occasion of its activity proceeds hand in 
hand with this joy-begetting exercise. But this simply means 
that interest is the sole cause of the origin of attention. We 
might perhaps put it even better thus; interest and attention 
are simply the opposite sides of one and the same process. 
That is to say, whoever arouses my interest has at the same time 
also concentrated my attention. Hence the concentration of 



138 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

attention does not even require any conscious volitional effort 
on the part of the pupils. With the enlistment of interest at- 
tention follows quite spontaneously. This spontaneous atten- 
tion persists just as long as the interest is maintained. Who- 
ever therefore wishes to hold the constant attention of his pupils 
must aim to enlist their interest. It is only after this has been 
effectively practiced for a number of years, and the pupil's in- 
tellect is sufficiently strengthened, that we may urge them to 
concentrate their attention as a conscious volitional effort. 

But even then it is inadvisable to base instruction wholly on 
this so-called " active " attention. A series of experiments has 
shown that attention which results from intensive volitional 
effort is an intermittent activity, which even adults are unable 
to continue for any considerable time. This intermittence 
characterizes the active attention of the pupils to a much greater 
degree. Hence, notwithstanding the desirability and necessity 
of training the pupils to persistent concentration, quite as 
much so as to regularity in work, attention is nevertheless, as a 
matter of fact, more certainly secured through the enlistment of 
interest. We would recommend the following procedure as 
the best in the practical work of the school. Seek constantly 
to arouse interest and you will at the same time secure atten- 
tion. In case mind wandering or weariness should arise dur- 
ing the course of the class period it is possible for the teacher, 
by an emphatic admonition, to force the pupils to renewed 
physical and mental energy and a vigorous effort of attention. 
But the effect of such effort usually lasts only a few minutes. 
The teacher must then utilize this interval to arouse interest 
again and thus reproduce the correlated attention. 

We must conclude therefore, that as a rule attention and in- 
terest combine in a single psychical act. A complete grasp of 
this fact will still further illuminate and impress our obligation 
to arouse interest. If our pupils therefore become indifferent 
and inattentive, we must first of all hold ourselves responsible, 
not them. We must at least endeavor by the constant enlist- 
ment of interest so to increase the intellectual powers of our 
pupils as to enable them to sustain such prolonged concentration 
as results from active volitional effort. And at no stage, in no 
subject and in no class period dare we neglect the enlistment of 
interest and securing the pleasure of spontaneous intellectual 



Didactics 1 39 

effort on the part of our pupils and to increase it as much as pos- 
sible. 

The enlistment of interest therefore remains our first and 
most important pedagogic principle. This is the primary condi- 
tion of pedagogic success. However, and we must immediately 
add, it is the primary but not the only one. Interest tends to 
arouse the intellectual powers but it does not discipline them. 
It is possible to proceed upon this principle so exclusively as 
even to endanger the final result. Permit me to illustrate 
this by relating a personal experience. 

In the winter of 1884-85 — I was then a gymnasial teacher 
in one of the provincial cities of Mahren — I was required to 
give the elective course in the Bohemian language. There were 
two classes, one for beginners and another for advanced pupils. 
In the elementary course I took the matter very seriously and 
tried to do what I could. In the advanced work, in which, if I 
recall correctly, I had three pupils, I was somewhat indifferent. 
I frequently took occasion to discuss general questions with the 
pupils. At the end of the year the father of one of my 
pupils in the advanced class remarked to me, that his son had 
frequently spoken of my course in Bohemian and expressed 
himself thus: " The class periods were exceedingly interesting, 
but we did not learn anything." I have constantly kept this 
incident in mind whenever my individuality as a teacher 
tempted me to emphasize onesidedly or exclusively the principle 
of interest. 

The class periods must be interesting, this is the first and 
most important commandment, but something must also be 
learned. To this end the principle of interest must be corre- 
lated with a second principle which will cooperate with the 
first. Earlier in life I was inclined to call this second principle 
the principle of constraint. Every practical pedagogue will 
admit that permanent results cannot be attained without a cer- 
tain degree of constraint. But I have discovered by careful 
reflection that the constraint moment is still not the most es- 
sential. It is not a matter of very great importance that we con- 
strain, but far more to what end we constrain. If we inquire 
into what we are instilling into our pupils, at any rate what we 
must instill by means of constraint, the answer will run as fol- 
lows: Systematic work and its correlated sense of responsi- 



140 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

bility. I therefore call the second pedagogic principle that must 
be correlated with that of arousing interest, the principle of 
training to work. We shall now proceed to the discussion of 
the significance and practical application of this second prin- 
ciple. 

4. The Principle of Training to Work 

The principle of interest rests upon the fact that the pupils 
are endowed with an intellectual functional demand. Satisfy- 
ing this demand in accordance with the stage of development and 
thus inspire pleasure in mental spontaneity constitutes the task 
of the teacher as described in the two preceding sections. But 
our pupils, as they come from the public school in the vast 
majority of cases do not bring with them the training to work. 
The conduct of the school must be so arranged that all of the 
study must be done in school. As a matter of course some spe- 
cially zealous and gifted teachers will succeed in securing inde- 
pendent home study on the part of individual pupils. But 
these are exceptions with which we cannot reckon. Training in 
systematic work and the development of the sense of responsi- 
bility to do so, is something new. Here we are obliged to be- 
gin at the foundation and train our pupils from the start so 
that they will not only experience functional pleasure in men- 
tal activity, but likewise learn to regard it as an indispensable 
duty. 

Training to work is an exceedingly important pedagogic prin- 
ciple in the secondary school for reasons of sequence: First of 
all on this account, namely, that training in systematic work is 
valuable in itself, even neglecting what is to be accomplished by 
the work. We have instilled in our pupils one of the most 
valuable things in life when we have trained them to consider 
the relation of their work to the future, to regard this work as 
the natural course of events and to shun idle indifference. Work 
is the most important principle of morals and even for this 
reason training to work belongs to the most important ethical 
task of the secondary school. Experience shows that the pupils 
from the institutions which strictly enforce systematic work 
are far more rarely idle and they generally complete their 
studies in the prescribed time. 



Didactics 141 

But even in the department of general education which we 
have described as scientific discipline training to work in ad- 
dition to the awakening of interest is likewise indispensable. 
The mental activity discharged through the awakening of inter- 
est must be intensified by exercise and gradually developed to 
definite, positive achievements. 

In the lowest classes, as previously observed, we must keep 
close to the methods of the public school and do the greater part 
of the work in the school. But even at this stage we should 
make a beginning in training to work. We should assign the 
pupils a certain amount of work, not too difficult, to be done at 
home, and keep strict account of the work done, in order that the 
pupils come to see that they are now assuming the responsibility 
for their achievements. A little later on we can and should 
increase our requirements so that they do not merely mechani- 
cally repeat, but likewise independently apply what they have 
acquired. They should also gradually learn to deal with larger 
problems and be held responsible for their solution. It is a good 
plan in the higher classes to allow a larger amount of material 
to accumulate before requiring a report. The pupils should 
likewise be given a chance to write essays on themes of their 
own choosing. In this way they will learn how to study with 
a definite end in view and the method of gathering materials. 

The principle of training to work must be applied with spe- 
cial vigor in the branches which we have previously contrasted 
with the merely " inspirational " as " disciplinary." In this 
class belong on the one hand the philological subjects, i.e., foreign 
and native languages, and on the other hand mathematics and 
physics. Here training to work should even be fostered during 
the class period. As a matter of course we should also in 
these subjects seek to inspire interest as much as possible and 
stimulate the pupils to pleasurable exercise. And we show 
them even in school that this exercise has definite ends and that 
we expect them to actually appropriate w^hat they have heard 
and learned by practice. In mathem.atics, e.g., the teacher must 
rigorously require all his pupils to follow the process of solution, 
and he will accomplish this by requiring various pupils to direct 
the several stages of the operation. So likewise frequently in 
the midst of an experiment in physics he will put the question to 
the pupils, what will happen next. In such thought-experiments 



142 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

both pedagogic principles are effectively applied simultaneously. 
The philologist will show the pupils even In the lower classes 
that the forms are practiced in. school In order to Impress them 
firmly, and that they must eventually become permanent. He 
will endeavor to train them In methodical thought and in thor- 
oughness even in the Interpretation of authors and thus during 
the class period not only Inspire but likewise discipline the 
intellect. 

Our principle demands however that the pupils work in- 
tensively not only in school, but that they prepare for the 
class period at home and thus train themselves to the per- 
formance of a duty, assuming the responsibility for results which 
rests with them. 

There is a strong tendency at present to reduce the home 
work of the pupils as much as possible. This is due to the 
desire to get more time for excursions and games for the highly 
important physical development. This is quite as clearly under- 
stood as It Is justified, but it directly contradicts the nature of 
the higher school If the Ideal of didactics is conceived as con- 
fining all the mental discipline to the class period. The purpose 
of the secondary school can never be realized without training 
in Independent work which carries with It the sense of responsi- 
bility. Our pupils must become conscious of the fact, that the 
knowledge and power (WIssen und Konnen) Imparted to them 
In school must be made their permanent possession through their 
own effort. Even more than this should be accomplished. The 
teacher should stimulate the pupils to organize for independent 
cooperative work on their own initiative. Colin A. Scott, in 
his excellent book on Social Education (Boston, 1909) , has given 
a number of valuable suggestions on this point for the American 
public schools which could and should be introduced Into our 
higher schools with the necessary modifications. 

But this principle should not be overworked. We dare not 
press our requirements to the limit of the ability of our pupils. 
We must see to It that they have sufficient time for recreation, 
time in which they may at least pursue occupations of their 
own choosing. These favorite occupations frequently reveal 
the Individuality of the pupil, here peculiar gifts occasionally 
come to the surface, which may be of decisive importance in 
the choice of vocation. We must regard the powers of our 



Didactics 143 

pupils as a precious possession which has been entrusted to our 
nurture. The state has committed to us the administration of 
its most valuable working capital. The value of this capital 
will increase if we give the powers of our pupils opportunity 
to exercise moderately in productive effort. Excessive demands 
on these youthfully tender capacities however produce the sad 
result of prematurely consuming and shrivelling up this wealth 
that belongs to the future. 

The danger of overburdening, which doubtless exists, could 
most readily be avoided by arranging the program of studies 
as suggested above. The principle of interest would be used 
chiefly in the " inspirational " subjects, whilst both pedagogic 
principles would cooperate in the *' disciplinary " subjects. This 
cooperation is by no means difficult to realize. As the pleasure 
in intellectual exercise develops through the awakening of inter- 
est the requirements involved in the solution of a definite 
problem meet with far less resistance. On the contrary. The 
intensified functional demand immediately reaches out after 
concrete, clearly definite opportunity to do something. If the 
teacher understands how to give direction and purpose to the 
awakened desire for exercise, to assign a task w^hich is neither 
too easy nor j^et too difficult, he will succeed in developing the 
creative energy of interest into the demand for work and by 
training raise it to a second nature. 

The principle of work has hitherto been dominant in the con- 
duct of secondary instruction. In fact there have been times 
when it has been thought that the learning process should be 
made as difficult as possible and that the pupils should be pre- 
pared for the difficult problems of life by strict discipline even 
by unrelenting severity. In reply to this I would once more 
call attention to the frequently quoted passage of St. Augustine: 
Plus valet in discendo libera curiositas quam meticulosa ne- 
cessitas. In the acquisition of knowledge spontaneous interest 
accomplishes more than fear-inspired coercion. The principle 
of work which must be intimately associated with interest how- 
ever cannot quite be carried through without coercion, but this 
necessitas does not on that account have to be meticulosa. It 
is far better to exercise the coercion by a consistent non-indul- 
gence than by the intimidations of examination and discipline. 
In every class period we must furthermore keep in mind the 



144 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

total aim of the secondary school and be conscious of the fact 
that we have not merely nor even chiefly to impart facts, but to 
develop intellectual independence and moral responsibility. 

5. The Authority of the Teacher 

The concept of authority has hitherto been elaborated chiefly 
by theologians and moralists, and more recently also by sociolo- 
gists. I have been investigating this problem for some time and 
several years ago promised my students a monograph on author- 
ity. The following suggestions may be regarded as a kind of 
abstract of that promise. My investigations, as a matter of 
fact, have not as yet enabled me to attain a satisfactory theory 
in all its phases. However the most important aspects have 
become sufficiently clear to permit the hope of having penetrated 
into the matter somewhat more profoundly and to have at- 
tained results of no slight importance to practical pedagogics. 

First of all this one fact must be laid down as fundamental, 
namely, that authority is a spiritual force. Just as in the case 
of every other psychical factor, authority can of course be ex- 
ercised only through physical means, as e.g., through looks, ver- 
bal admonitions, and written rules. But the physical and 
physiological is only the instrument, never the essence. The 
same words and gestures which, when used with authority pro- 
duce swift and profound results, are utterly Ineffective when 
lacking the psychical element which constitutes the very essence 
of authority. This fact In Itself Is of profound Importance 
to us teachers. It shows that we can acquire authority by 
knowledge and especially by consistent, effective action even 
If we are not naturally endowed with the physical attributes 
of authority. As a matter of fact I have known colleagues who 
were small and insignificant in appearance who nevertheless 
governed their classes splendidly, had excellent discipline and 
got their pupils to work. On the other hand I recall others' of 
Imposing stature, a strong voice, In brief possessing every ex- 
ternal characteristic which ordinarily Inspires the pupils' respect, 
but were nevertheless a veritable joke to the young men. Au- 
thority, therefore, is based on spirit and it can effect results from 
that source alone. 

The sphere in which authority produces its profoundest as 



Didactics 145 

well as its widest results is that of the religious life. God, 
Christ, the Church, the Holy Scriptures, all exercise a pro- 
found spiritual influence upon believers and determine their 
thoughts, feelings and desires. By the term " believers " we 
mean all who feel themselves subject to religious authority. 
And since we have no term which is capable of describing this 
relation to authority with equal brevity and clearness, I shall 
take the liberty to speak of believers even where religion is not 
under consideration, and apply the term to all who are under 
the influence of authority in any form whatsoever. And I 
now raise the question ; How shall we describe the operation of 
authority upon believers in general? 

We can draw the answer to this question with considerable 
certitude from the extensive investigations made during the 
last decades of last century into the phenomena of hypnotism 
and suggestion discovered by the Englishman Braid. It is a 
well known fact that individuals are not infrequently put into 
a state of artificial sleep (hypnosis) while unusually open to 
the suggestions of the hypnotist. They regard every proposi- 
tion of the hypnotist, — even the most absurd — as true and 
blindly follow his instructions. The hypnotised moreover re- 
main under the influence of the hypnotist even after they awaken. 
For weeks, and even months afterwards they follow the com- 
mands given during hypnosis for the future. Any one in- 
terested in the details of these processes will find abundant 
material in Moll's book on Hypnotism. The psychological 
and physiological interpretation of these facts may be found in 
James' Principles of Psychology (H. 593-614). 

When the facts of hypnosis became known during the seven- 
ties and eighties of last century and the results of Charcot and 
Bernheim convinced the public that it is not a matter of spirit- 
istic frauds, but scientific discoveries, the interest of psycholo- 
gists was at once directed to the hypnotic state. They enter- 
tained the hope that experiments would reveal hitherto un- 
known psychical powers and also expected new information in 
physiology. Hypnosis has indeed illumined many a profound 
psychical problem, especially concerning the nature of volitional 
processes, and furnished physiology valuable information con- 
cerning the nature and direction of centrally aroused stimuli. 
But the most important result of this whole investigation is not 



146 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

hypnosis, but the exact knowledge of the intimately related 
fact of suggestion. This involves a peculiar sort of influence 
exercised by one man upon another, the essence of vi^hlch 
consists in the fact that everything v^hich proceeds from the 
suggestor exerts a peculiarly strong influence on the sense per- 
ception, the ideation, judgment, feeling and desire of the sub- 
ject of the suggestion, and that all influences from other sources, 
all counter reasons and counter motives are either wholly ob- 
literated or at least essentially weakened. 

In hypnosis both the suggestibility of the hypnotic and the 
power of the suggestor come so clearly and forcefully into the 
foreground that this form of influence of one Individual upon 
another must impress every observer. Hypnosis differs from 
ordinary sleep, as Lipps has strikingly observed, " by the firm 
and limited wakeful island within the surrounding more or less 
sleeping soul. The wakeful island is described by the person- 
ality of the hypnotist. It is the ' abode ' or province in the 
soul of the hypnotic, where this personality manifests itself, the 
seat of the clangcolor and pitch of his voice." The power of 
the hypnotist is frequently frightfully great. He may call forth 
at will, in the consciousness of the hypnotic, hallucinations and 
illusions of such strength as even to produce physiological 
modifications. It has happened, for instance, that the hyp- 
notist has remarked to the hypnotic that the iron with which 
he Is now touching his hand is red hot. The hypnotic drew 
himself together with a painful shudder at the contact and small 
fire-blisters formed in the skin at the point of contact. The 
hypnotic believes the hypnotist in everything and even fre- 
quently performs his commands after the spell has passed off. 
But notwithstanding this the individuality of the hypnotic Is not 
entirely destroyed. If the counter reasons against the suggested 
judgment or the counter motives against the suggested commands 
are very strong, the hypnotic struggles against them after 
awaking and his own reason and will frequently gain the mas- 
tery. But the trend of his thought, feeling and will is never- 
theless tremendously affected. 

The experiments in hypnotism directed attention to suggesti- 
bility on the one hand, to man's power of suggestion on the 
other. Observation thus intensified soon took note that these 
facts are by no means confined to hypnosis. We are likewise 



Didactics 147 

under the influence of suggestion during our waking hours. 
Not only do strong personalities, but traditional opinions, es- 
tablished customs and usages, favorite books, etc., affect us in a 
way similar to the observed facts of hypnosis, differing only in 
degree. Suggestion is a universal form of interaction between 
man and man. The effect of suggestion everywhere reveals the 
twofold characteristic of contraction and of intensification. 
Certain stimuli are intensified and others are weakened. But 
whilst in hypnosis the effect on the sphere of physical sensitivity 
is the most striking, in the case of wakeful suggestion the effect 
on the secondary and tertiary images is by far the most im- 
portant. It is our judgment, our feelings and our volitional 
choices that are influenced by suggestion more frequently and 
more profoundly than we are aware. The profound influence 
of favorite popular orators upon excited crowds, the alluring 
and impelling force of certain ideas and catch words, the tre- 
mendous impression of the founders of religions upon their 
first adherents, all of these things rest on suggestion and sug- 
gestibility. 

I haven't any doubt but that the psychical influence of au- 
thority on believers is to be conceived as a kind of suggestion and 
that this theory will give the teacher a decided advantage. 
The teacher who speaks with authority penetrates into the 
depths of the minds of his pupils with his whole personality, of 
which his subject constitutes a vital part, and arouses the " wake- 
ful island " mentioned above. The pupils are in an attitude of 
receptiveness for everything which the teacher has to say that 
bears on the subject, and the predisposition to other ideas and 
judgments is greatly diminished. This accounts for the fact 
that students in the Greek class seem so remarkably unready 
with their knowledge of geography, mathematics and history. 
These are beyond the range of the " wakeful island." Author- 
ity exercised in this way renders it an easy matter for the teacher 
to arouse the interest of the pupils, enlist their own efforts and 
hold their attention. It follows therefore that the possession 
of authority reduces the difliculty of teaching very materially. 
But this is a matter so palpably manifest as to be meaningless. 
What we are anxious to know is quite another matter. We 
need to investigate more closely the suggestive effects of au- 
thority, we must be able to distinguish its various forms, so as 



148 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

to establish definite criteria by which the teacher will be able to 
judge whether he still possesses authority or whether he has 
lost it. And we must likewise never forget that our authority 
is a means and not an end in itself. In addition to the effects 
and criteria of authority we must likewise discover its limits and 
have care to observe them. 

The psychical effects of authority are most easily and most 
simply classified after the analogy of the three fundamental 
functions of consciousness, described by the words ; thought, 
feeling, and volition. And we know moreover, that these 
fundamental functions are never isolated in actual psychical life, 
but, due to our unitary and centralized organization, constantly 
work together. But, owing to a division of labor, a profound 
psychical differentiation has nevertheless taken place during 
the course of the development of civilization, which has not 
only resulted in a diversification, but likewise in a narrowing 
of functions. This fact becomes clear as soon as we note the 
effect of authority. Under ordinary conditions we are practi- 
cally never merely subject to the influence of but a single author- 
ity. We are generally affected by a number of different author- 
ities. No single one of them controls us completely. One 
appeals more especially to our intellect and then even frequently 
to a specific field rather than the intellect as a whole, whilst 
other authorities affect our emotions or volitions. Thus, e.g., a 
scholar, whom we regard as an authority in his department, 
readily gains our acquiescence without opposition, whilst he 
is not even considered as furnishing a standard for our will. 
On the other hand parents who have not had the advantages 
of a scientific training, frequently retain their authority over 
their children for a long time, and even when the latter have 
far surpassed the parents in knowledge and training. In such 
cases authority has no effect whatever on the intellect, but 
merely inspires the feelings and will of the believers. We see 
therefore that the influence of authority is not only to be classi- 
fied theoretically according to the various fundamental functions 
of the mind, but that it is also actually differentiated in prac- 
tical life, that it affects only the one or the other fundamental 
functions and fails to affect the remaining psychical activities. 
Experience therefore justifies us in regarding this classification 
as established and to investigate the mode of its development in 



Didactics 149 

connection with the various mental powers separately. 

Authority reveals its influence on the intellect by the fact 
that we accept as true without further proof the judgments 
which proceed from the accepted authority. As a matter of 
fact we are even inclined to defend such judgments against op- 
position and even the more vigorously in proportion to the emi- 
nence of the authority. We measure the greatness and power 
of authority by the intensity and stability of our faith. We 
shall call this kind of persuasion intellectual authority. Re- 
ligion furnishes the largest number and the most suggestive 
examples of the effect of intellectual authority. The believer 
accepts the dogmas and promises, the traditions and interpre- 
tations of his church and regards them true without specific 
evidence. In case of even the slightest doubt, the church inevi- 
tably suffers a shock. The church, particularly the Roman 
Catholic, is well aware of this and accordingly lays great stress 
on purity of faith. Teachers regard this matter somewhat 
differently. We shall therefore have occasion farther on to 
investigate the significance for instruction involved in the in- 
tellectual authority of the teacher, and more particularly to 
indicate its natural limits. 

The effect of authority on feeling is shown in the fact that 
every approval or even commendation of my position by an au- 
thority produces a sense of exaltation and arouses intense, 
beneficent feelings of pleasure within me. On the other hand 
every criticism, every blame coming from the side of authority 
is likely to produce a sense of self-depreciation and give rise 
to a depressed state of emotion together with an intense dis- 
pleasure within me. This fact is a very important matter for 
us teachers as a criterion. The moment we find that our 
pupils are indifferent to our praise or our blame, we may be 
sure it is a serious indication of waning authority on our part. 

Authority affects the will in a way that secures obedience to 
its commands without resistance. In case the command involves 
something which is downright unpleasant, it may of course 
give rise to a struggle in the mind of the subject, but, in case 
the authority is of sufficient force, it will last but for a short 
time. As a matter of fact obedience may also be secured by 
brute force and awe inspiring strictness. The obedience of the 
pupils is therefore even still no sure criterion of authority. Dis- 



I50 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

obedience however is a sure sign that the teacher's authority is 
gone. 

The effects of authority on feeling and will are vitally cor- 
related. Any praise and blame that discharges intense feelings 
of pleasure, or displeasure as the case may be, will generally 
produce a ready and unobstructed obedience. But on the other 
hand there is a vast difference between this effect on sentiment 
and will and the influence of intellectual authority on our judg- 
ments, a relative — even if in fact not absolute — independ- 
ence so to speak. We should therefore endeavor to formulate 
a distinctive term with which to describe the influence of au- 
thority on feeling and will. I suggest the term " moral au- 
thority," because of the fact that this kind of influence seems to 
be peculiarly active in moral development. 

We shall now have to investigate how these two kinds of au- 
thority operate in the work of the school and how they should 
operate. 

So far as pertains to intellectual authority, experience shows, 
that, among the lower grades we have this authority as a fore- 
gone conclusion. The pupils have become accustomed, in the 
public schools, to regard the teacher as omniscient and conse- 
quently expect even more of the teachers of the more advanced 
school, who are called " Professors." That is to say, when we 
enter the class room to give our first lessons we are the abso- 
lute intellectual authority for all, or at least by far the great- 
est majority, of the pupils in the lower grades. It never occurs 
to any of the pupils to doubt the truth of any of our judgments. 
That is to say, we are not obliged to acquire our intellectual 
authority at this stage. We simply need to avoid the things 
which would be likely to undermine our authority. And this 
demands nothing more than careful preparation and rigid self- 
discipline. 

In the lower grades however the intellectual authority of 
the teacher is an indispensable prerequisite to effective teaching. 
At this stage the teacher, rather than the text book, should 
be the first and direct source of instruction. We write the 
paradigms on the blackboard, we develop and formulate the 
rules, we demonstrate with the globe and the objects of nature 
study and tell the facts of history. We pronounce the first 
words of a foreign language for our pupils, from our lips they 



Didactics 151 

learn pronunciation and accent. The pupil must regard what 
we say as almost sacred. There must be no occasion for criti- 
cism or doubt. We must be absolutely certain of our knowledge 
in our own minds and give evidence of it in our work. fVe must 
be and appear as persons who know. 

We must therefore never waver, never make mistakes. Un- 
der no circumstances dare it come to pass that we must correct 
a statement previously made or even take it back. 

This absolutely indispensable certitude is not difficult to at- 
tain on account of the elementary nature of the subject-matter 
of instruction at this stage. But just for this very reason we 
are frequently inclined to think that intensive preparation is 
unnecessary. Hence we often neglect familiarizing ourselves 
with the content and language of the text books from which 
the pupils must review what they have learned from us. We 
permit ourselves slight digressions which may as matter of 
fact be unimportant or irrelevant, but are nevertheless likely 
to confuse the pupils, who adhere closely to the letter of the 
text. This results in perplexity as to whether they should 
follow us or the book. This is the reason why I regard it so 
highly important that we clearly grasp the significance of intel- 
lectual authority at this stage. Intellectual authority must here 
be nothing short of absolute, so that the fundamental elements 
in all subjects, but especially in language work and mathematics, 
become the fixed and abiding acquisition of the pupils. 

The matter assumes a different aspect when the pupils pass 
from the first year into the middle and thence advance to the 
highest class. Here the intellectual authority of the teacher, 
which was an indispensable prerequisite in the first year, be- 
comes a problem. The task of the secondary school more- 
over consists pre-eminently, as we have repeatedly observed, 
in training the pupils to intellectual independence. How is it 
possible to do this therefore, if the intellectual authority of the 
teacher is always to remain absolute and unquestioned? Here 
we are again confronted with another difficult synthesis, of 
which the secondary teacher must fulfill so many. He must 
create the possibility. The Intellectual authority of the teacher 
must be so adjusted and developed as not to suppress the indi- 
viduality of the pupils, but rather encourage it. This problem 
has never been clearly elaborated in pedagogical circles, at least 



152 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

not to my knowledge. The intellectual authority of the teacher 
is consequently often expanded to cover too much, requiring of 
the pupils of the higher classes a " jurare in verba magistri " 
(to swear by their teacher literally), which suppresses indi- 
vidual development, is frequently regarded by the pupils as a 
burdensome requirement resulting in hostility towards educa- 
tion. Not a few teachers fear that their dignity will suffer if 
they do not decide absolutely and finally concerning the inter- 
pretation of a philological text, or the only correct method of 
solving a mathematical problem, or the reason for the failure 
of an experiment in physics. Such teachers not infrequently 
regard a criticism on the part of the pupils as deserving disci- 
pline, conduct that must be vigorously suppressed. 

Such procedure, which unfortunately is not infrequent, must 
be regarded as a serious pedagogical blunder. Such teachers, 
due to a lack of psychological training, fail to see that it is 
utterly impossible to attain the end they are striving for by such 
methods. Authoritatively decreed conclusions and the suppres- 
sion of all criticism by brute force may bring it to pass that 
the pupils will keep quiet, conform outwardly and at least not 
interpose any objections. But the indignation at the supposed 
injustice may easily result in such an accumulation of resentment 
in the minds of the pupils as frequently leads to surprising and 
most serious eruptions. It is even worse if pupils, through our 
treatment of all their individual judgments as out of place, lose 
all interest in school or in several of the subjects of the course 
of study, if they remain stolid and indifferent in school and 
direct the impulse towards the exercise of the functions of indi- 
viduality to matters entirely outside the school. The school has ■ 
then lost all influence in the shaping, forming and directing of 
the youthful mind. The teacher has therefore, by his dogmatic 
conclusions, not enhanced his own dignity, but most seriously 
injured it. 

If, therefore, we are not to lose sight of our central purpose, 
training to intellectual independence by means of scientific 
discipline, we must become clearly aware that our intellectual 
authority which must be absolute and unqualified in the first 
year will have to be transformed with the increasing maturity 
of the pupil. The sense in which this transformation must be 
made will at once be clear if we reflect on the way in which we 



Didactics 153 

acquire our scientific education and from what sources we draw 
our information. It is at once evident that, by the method of 
instruction pursued during the middle and last years, our pupils 
themselves have access to many of these sources. The pupils 
gradually learn to draw from the same sources that we do. 
And hence an authority slowly arises to which both teacher and 
pupils readily yield adherence in similar fashion. This author- 
ity is nothing less than the authority of science itself. And as 
we gradually permit our personal authority to pass over into 
the impersonal authority of science we are in position to train 
our pupils with all the energy and tact at our command to 
independent investigation without prejudice to our dignity. 
We shall endeavor to illustrate this by several examples. 

If we do not know the meaning of a Greek word we look it 
up in the lexicon. But this is exactly what the pupils likewise 
do and we at once observe that the lexicon constitutes a com- 
mon authority for both teacher and pupil. The teacher may 
have a larger lexicon, and by the fact of his wider reading he is 
certainly in position to use the lexicon to greater advantage, 
but in the final analysis he depends on the lexicon in precisely 
the same way as the pupil does. So likewise the tables of 
logarithms are final standards for teacher and pupil alike. 
The historian draws his information concerning events either 
directly from the sources or from approved treatises. But these 
treatises are likewise at the disposal of the pupils of the higher 
classes, especially in the larger cities. If we wish to train 
our pupils to independence, therefore, we must direct them in 
the middle and especially in the highest class to make liberal 
use of these scientific helps and to form their own conclusions. 
It will sometimes happen that a pupil will arrive at a conclusion 
which disagrees with that of the teacher. He must then in- 
variably be permitted to state his position in the usual form and 
give his reasons for it. The teacher must carefully examine 
this view and either show that in this case this interpretation 
is likewise possible, or indicate the reasons why the pupil's 
conclusion is invalid. He will thus have opportunity to show 
that notwithstanding the fact that he is no longer an absolute 
authority, he still possesses a certain advantage in the form of 
knowledge of facts and the use of scientific instruments. This 
advantage must be clearly evident. Otherwise the teacher will 



154 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

lose respect. After the pupils are convinced that their teacher 
is actually well-informed and is master of the methods and in- 
struments of his science, it will make nothing but the very best 
impression if he should some time have occasion to show that 
the view of a pupil which differs from his own is likewise pos- 
sible, or even to give it the preference. In this way he furnishes 
an example of open-mindedness which constitutes the very best 
and purest evidence of genuine scientific method. 

I once had a pupil, in the two higher classes in which I taught 
Greek, who was intensely interested in philology and studiously 
devoted himself to It. He procured critical editions of the 
authors we were reading in class and read scientific treatises, 
e.g., Lehr's Aristarchus. He used to bring a critical edition 
of Sophocles along to class and consequently knew the various 
readings very well. It happened several times that the text 
used in the school edition could not be interpreted satisfactorily. 
I asked this pupil quite casually what the traditions had to say 
on the point at Issue and permitted him to give his opinion of 
the passage. It frequently happened that the tradition was 
simpler and more consistent than the conjecture adopted by the 
editor of the school edition. The Interpretation thus simply 
became more interesting. There wasn't the slightest occasion 
for any indecorum. I kept constant control of the discussion 
and my dignity did not suffer in the least. Several colleagues 
however frequently complained of the presumption and impu- 
dence of this same pupil, because they seemed to think that 
such a high degree of Independence on the part of a pupil cast 
reflection on the intellectual authority of the teacher. 

A few years after I began teaching — I had a position in a 
provincial-gymnasium at that time — the Inspector gave me 
charge of the instruction in philosophical propadeutic, which 
here in Austria includes logic and psychology. At that time 
I had of course attended several courses of lectures in philosophy 
at the university, but my scientific studies up to that time had 
been exclusively classical philology. I was under necessity 
therefore to work up this new department, and I made no secret 
of my lack of preparation to my pupils. We worked together 
in the most enthusiastic fashion and my pupils told me many 
years afterward that my candour had produced the very best 
impression on them. Years later, after I had studied psychology 



Didactics 155 

and philosophy intensively for a considerable period, I required 
my pupils to make criticisms, as observed above (p. 124). 
The class periods developed enthusiastic interest, the discussions 
were lively, but never any drag or hesitation. I was always in 
position to break off the discussion when it threatened confusion, 
and had frequent occasion to pronounce the suggestions of the 
pupils as valuable. 

These experiences confirm my conviction therefore that in 
the advanced classes the intellectual authority of the teacher can 
and should be transferred to science itself, without detriment to 
the dignity of the teacher. Training to intellectual inde- 
pendence raises this transformation to an indispensable require- 
ment. 

If all teachers fully appreciated this necessity there would 
be no need of prescribed regulations concerning the more liberal 
treatment of pupils in the higher classes. This more liberal 
treatment develops quite naturally. The teacher thus becomes 
the advantageous guiding friend of the pupil, who leads the 
way by which they attain scientific discipline and intellectual 
independence. 

We have still to answer briefly the question how intellectual 
authority is acquired, and how it is retained. The apt remark 
of Demosthenes, that it is often more difficult to keep than to 
gain wealth, likewise applies to authority. 

Every prospective teacher should strive to get the foundation 
for intellectual authority at the university. If he brings thor- 
ough, comprehensive knowledge of his subject with him from 
the university as well as joy in scientific research and a candid 
conscientiousness on scientific problems, he will at once inspire 
the respect of his pupils at the first classes that he conducts. 
On the other hand superficiality and indifference together with 
the indolence which is generally coupled with it will soon be 
discovered by the pupils and the loss of authority follows only 
too soon. The knowledge acquired at the university must 
nevertheless be deepened and thoroughly established by the 
most careful preparation and constant expansion. Especially 
during our first years of teaching we must spare no effort, we 
must lay hold of everything which will contribute to the under- 
standing of a passage, to the vivifying of the historical lecture, 
to the sure success of the laboratory experiment. If the classical 



156 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

philologist will not take the time to work through detailed 
commentaries, to make free use of the reference books, if, as is 
not infrequently the case, he absolutely refuses to acquire com- 
plete mastery of the scientific and technical facts which appear 
in the lesson, he need not be surprised if it occasionally happens 
that a diligent student will know more than his teacher. I 
still have a vivid recollection of the trouble I had to find out 
something more authentic about the " wild asses " which 
Xenophon speaks about in the Anabasis^ and how difficult I 
found it to picture to my mind the kind of Celtic masonry which 
Caesar describes in the seventh book of the Gallic Wars. I 
have, however, constantly acted on the principle that the philolo- 
gist must be thoroughly saturated with his authors even as to 
matters of fact. Hence, in proportion as the teacher makes light 
of these things, he may require the necessary care and thor- 
oughness in preparation on the part of the student, but he will 
not secure it. 

The scientific ability and conscientiousness of the teacher 
are therefore the foundation of his intellectual authority. It Is 
possible therefore for every teacher to acquire and retain them, 
because they do not require any special gifts of personality, but 
above all else accurate knowledge and careful preparation. But 
if the teacher is to lead the way and effect the transition from 
the Intellectual authority based on his personality to the im- 
personal scientific authority which we have set forth, he must 
unquestionably have an adequate amount of the other kind of 
authority which we above described as moral. Otherwise he 
will lose his Influence and the school will suffer harm. We 
must therefore now examine the conditions and effects of 
moral authority more closely. 

By moral authority we mean, as observed above, the influ- 
ence of the teacher on the feelings and will of the pupil. We 
have described sensitivity to the praise or blame of the teacher 
and unquestioned obedience as the criteria by which the teacher 
may discover whether he still possesses this authority. It re- 
mains for us to Inquire, in what the significance of this form 
of authority in pedagogic discipline consists? 

We must observe, first of all, that the moral authority of 
the teacher is an important condition for the smooth and suc- 
cessful conduct of instruction. If the pupil is not indifferent 



Didactics 157 

to the praise or blame of the teacher he will try to please him, 
that is to say, he will feel a sense of urgency to develop his own 
activity. The moral authority of the teacher therefore is of 
considerable advantage in arousing interest. Unquestioning 
obedience likewise makes it easier to apply our second pedagogic 
principle, the habit of regularity in work. It follows from 
this that the moral authority of the teacher is not required to 
undergo the same transformation as the intellectual. We are 
in need of the moral authority in the first year as well as in the 
last. Even though the external forms of conduct towards 
pupils change with the age period the subjective basis upon 
which the teacher's moral authority rests must nevertheless 
remain the same. 

The effect of moral authority is still more important for the 
discipline of our pupils. Moral authority furnishes us with 
an influence over what Aristotle called, m aXoya Trj<s xf/vxrj?, i.e., 
over the irrational part of the soul, the feeling and will of the 
pupil. These, moreover, as indicated more fully above (p. 66), 
constitute the substructure of consciousness. If the teacher 
possesses moral authority, habitually praises only the praise- 
worthy and reproves only the blameworthy, if he furthermore 
requires only the things that are necessary to intellectual de- 
velopment, he will be able indeed to contribute incalculably to 
the positive growth of personality and effect entire generations 
beneficently. Moral authority therefore lies deeper and oper- 
ates more slowly than intellectual. Its roots are hidden away 
in the inmost subjectivity of the personality of the teacher. A 
suggestive influence issues from those depths, the nature of which 
is hard to describe and its conditions cannot be so clearly ex- 
plained as in the case of intellectual authority. We shall never- 
theless endeavor, out of a rich experience, to set forth at least 
several important factors which may serve as suggestions to the 
young teacher, — the things to be observed and the things to be 
avoided in order to acquire and retain moral authority. 

We must first of all note the fact that there exists a relative 
independence between intellectual and moral authority, but it is 
by no means absolute. If the teacher gives evidence of learning 
and at the same time manifests a high degree of assurance in 
handling his subject-matter, he has already laid the foundation 
for moral authority. His knowledge and careful preparation 



158 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

secure him a respectful hearing In the class-room which in Itself 
means a great deal. This applies not only to the first j^ear 
where, as observed above, Intellectual authority must be abso- 
lute, but likewise to the advanced classes where Intellectual 
authority has been transferred to Impersonal science. It Is in 
fact the pupils of the higher classes who are Impressed by a 
large amount, extensive learning, especially if not exclusively 
limited to his own field. If the pupils get the impression that 
their teacher Is a man of learning they will not regard his 
praise and reproof with Indifference, at least not when the case 
involves an Intellectual solution. Hence if we apply ourselves 
diligently to the Increase and precision of our knowledge. If we 
make careful preparation and consequently appear to have com- 
plete mastery of our subject-matter, we at the same time lay 
the foundation for the development of moral authority. This 
much at least Is certain, that without accurate knowledge, with- 
out scientific thoroughness it is difficult to acquire moral author- 
ity. If a man lacks assurance in his knowledge or even shows 
weakness his praise and reproof will be a matter of indliference 
to the pupils 

But scientific thoroughness alone Is not sufficient to guarantee 
moral quality. There are still certain attributes of character 
that must be added. 

Many thinkers hold that these attributes, just because they 
Issue from the depths of personality, must be Innate and cannot 
be acquired. In my judgment however and experience con- 
firms me in this, that the young teacher as a matter of fact is 
but rarely a fully developed personality. I have discovered 
in my own experience that it is really the school that develops 
the personality of the teacher. I know from my own experi- 
ence that firm resolution, rigorous self-discipline, careful prepa- 
ration and constant reflection on the principles employed, even 
if the peculiar gifts of leadership are lacking, will gradually 
give the young teacher the necessary assurance with which to 
begin. I hope, for this reason, that the following suggestions 
and advice may be helpful to many young colleagues in ac- 
quiring moral authority. 

If we Intend that praise and reproof are to make an Im- 
pression on the pupils, we must use them sparingly and In 
carefully discriminating degrees. The honors which we con- 



Didactics 159 

fer on the pupils should be, to employ the phrase of Cornelius 
Nepos, " rara ac tennes," i.e. they must not be given too fre- 
quently and not with too extravagant expression. The simple 
performance of duty is taken for granted, on the other hand an 
act which is distinctly extraordinary, a peculiarly pertinent an- 
swer, should be kindly and openly commended. It is similarly 
advisable to practise economy with reproof. An inattentive 
pupil may frequently be brought back to active participation 
merely by fixing attention on him. In the matter of habitual 
neglect of duty I have frequently, instead of a reproof, simply 
expressed my surprise and generally found it more effective. 
However, in the case of a grave misdemeanor, which even in- 
volves dishonesty, strong expression of indignation is in place, 
but it should never include abuse. 

On the matter of influencing the will we will proceed most 
most effectively if we plan carefully and exactly in advance just 
what we intend to require. However, once the requirement 
has been made we must refuse absolutely to relax. We must 
insist with energy and tenacity that our requirements be actu- 
ally fulfilled. As soon as the pupils discover that objection, 
side-stepping, or forgetfulness are useless, they will learn, and 
that right quickly, to adjust themselves to our requirements 
without resistance. 

In order to maintain moral authority it is exceedingly im- 
portant that the teacher does not permit his personal sympathies 
and antipathies towards certain pupils, feelings which are thor- 
oughly human and incapable of complete elimination, to affect 
the treatment and esteem of the pupil. Absolute justice is the 
surest means for the acquisition and maintenance of authority. 
Pupils endure with comparative readiness a considerable degree 
of rigor in the requirements, provided the teacher never violates 
their sense of justice. And every teacher can avoid this if he 
determines to do so. There is a proverb that love cannot be 
taken by force, but a man can attain to justice by diligent re- 
flection and self-discipline. And justice, let me repeat it, is the 
most important source of moral authority. 

We might perhaps suggest additional conditions and methods 
which indicate the way by which the teacher can acquire au- 
thority. I shall however let the matter rest with what has 
been said. What seems to me the most important is the con- 



i6o Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

viction of every teacher that intellectual and moral authority 
are indispensable prerequisites to successful teaching, and that 
it is possible to acquire these by knowledge and will. 

However, notwithstanding its great importance, the author- 
ity of the teacher is never an end in itself, but always only a 
means. It is certainly granted that we are here for the sake 
of the pupils, not the pupils for our sakes. We require au- 
thority in order that we may lead our pupils safely and aC' 
curately. 



CHAPTER V 

ETHICAL AND SOCIAL PROBLEMS 

I. The Ethical Factor in the Secondary School 

WE have repeatedly had occasion during the course of our 
investigations to refer to the ethical problems of the sec- 
ondary school. We have described social-ethical training as an 
integral element of general education. It consists, as we en- 
deavored to show, in a corresponding development of the func- 
tion of volition, and moreover, in such a way as to effect an 
invigoration, control, and expansion of the will (pp. 70, 83). 
According to our way of looking at it this expansion consists 
in giving the choices of our pupils the social point of view and 
to arouse in them the ability and necessity of advancing in 
every way the social whole of which they are a part. Our 
second pedagogic principle, which we have described as " the 
habit of industry," gave us occasion to call attention to the 
fact that one of the most important ethical problems of the 
secondary school is the matter of developing Industry. We 
have also referred to the fact that intellectual discipline can be 
effective only as It Is supported by fixed volitional dispositions 
which likewise constitute its vital basis. And finally, we have 
repeatedly emphasized that It is the duty and responsibility of 
the secondary school to train its pupils not alone to intellectual 
independence, but likewise to a sense of moral responsibility. 

These occasional references Indicate that, in addition to the 
scientific and didactic, the secondary teacher likewise has very 
important ethical and social problems to solve. But the mat- 
ter Is by no means at an end when we have become clearly 
and vitally aware of the problems. We must clearly isolate 
the ethical factor of the secondary school so as to understand 
that our whole pedagogic activity, but especially the administra- 
tion of discipline, must be surcharged with the ethical and social 
spirit. While we are teaching our pupils and endeavoring to 

161 



1 62 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

discipline their intellect we must constantly try to establish their 
character, to furnish them a firm spiritual foundation. More- 
over, we are thus simply fulfilling the intention of the Austrian 
Organization-plan, where the ultimate and highest aim of edu- 
cation is said to be, " a well-trained noble character." 

This phase of our pedagogic activity is just at present of 
quite peculiar significance. In this point I fully agree with 
Fr. W. Foerster, who, near the beginning of his School and 
Character, emphasizes the necessity of a more intensive discipline 
of character in our modern schools, and insists on a thorough 
reform of school discipline. 

The technical civilization of our age can show achievements 
which no one could have dreamed a century ago. All the ob- 
stacles to travel have been overcome, the Oecumene of the an- 
cients is becoming more and more one mighty unity, whose parts 
are constantly revealing a more intimate relationship. And 
now that we are in the act of subduihg the air and making it 
an instrument in human commerce, we are raising the words 
of Horace " Nil mortalibus arduum est," to an overwhelming 
truth. 

Notwithstanding the great admiration with which we are 
filled by these achievements of the human mind we must never- 
theless not ignore the dangers involved in this technical and 
economical advance. Human interests are constantly growing 
more materialistic, our spiritual vision is being torn towards 
externals with ever increasing force. We scarcely have time 
or interest any longer to think about ourselves, to cultivate our 
deeper spiritual powers, to interpret the purpose and meaning 
of existence from within. The consequence is that inner un- 
rest and spiritual abandon with its correlated nervousness which 
constitutes so deplorable a characteristic of the modern man, 
especially the modern youth. If parents, physicians and teach- 
ers do not interpose most vigorously the danger is not excluded 
that civilized humanity will be destroyed by the mighty forces 
of its own creation. 

If the technical and economic progress of humanity is to be 
a blessing and not a curse, man's subjective mastery of his spir- 
itual powers must keep even pace with the splendid achievements 
in the external mastery over nature. We must learn to pro- 
pose higher ideals and to suppress passing inclinations and 



Ethical and Social Problems 163 

moods, momentary wishes, impulses and temptations in the in- 
terest of these ideals. The complaint has frequently been made 
that moral progress is far outstripped by technical progress. 
Sophocles expressed this idea more than two thousand years ago : 

^0001/ n TO firjxot'Vo^y rexva.<; 
VTrep cAttiS' cx^^v irore /Jicv KaKOV 
aXXor' CTT* iaOXbv epirei. 

" Endowed beyond all expectation with the wisdom of art, 
man still reverts now to the bad and then again to the good." 
(Antigone, 365 if.) Pestalozzi observes even more clearly: 
" Just as in the case of an individual man, so likewise a whole 
epoch may achieve great progress in the knowledge of the truth 
while at the same time be wofully lacking in doing good." 
Foerster, who quotes this passage of Pestalozzi's, adds: " These 
words were spoken over a century ago and yet they seem to be 
intended directly for our own age." 

Notwithstanding the fact that these complaints against the 
respective ages find justification and that at present they are 
perhaps even more true than ever before, we must nevertheless 
not neglect the additions to moral progress which our age has to 
show. Penal law has grown less cruel, corporal punishment has 
receded, the solvent debtor receives more humane consideration 
at the hands of the law. Labor is being more highly esteemed, 
men are speaking in no uncertain tone of the duties of wealth, 
and the fact that public opinion is far more sensitive and strict 
on moral affairs is readily perceivable. We are as a matter of 
course still far short of what we ought to be in moral progress, 
but it were nevertheless unfair to deny that we are moving 
forward ethically. And it is just for this reason that it is so 
highly important that the secondary school appreciate its moral 
and social problem. If we succeed in developing our pupils 
into moral characters by means of our instruction and discipline 
we will produce a public opinion of the next generation that 
will be still more strict and sensitive to moral facts. We may 
say, therefore, the worthiness of humanity is placed in our charge. 
It depends upon us what attitude the rising generation will take 
to the problems of social ethics. We share the responsibility in 
case there is evidence of a breaking down of principles, an in- 



164 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

crease of egoism, a loss of the sense of solidarity. We are 
responsible if our young people regard every caprice and every 
desire as an essential part of their personality the development 
of which is at present described as the highest goal. We have 
'failed in proportion as our academic youth exults about " the 
w^ill to power " and so conceives the " revaluation of values " 
that everything is right to the strong. 

Once we teachers have risen to this high conception of our 
vocation, each one of us will feel obliged to get a clear under- 
standing of moral evolution and the moral destiny of mankind, 
but more particularly of the moral requirements which our 
immediate age imposes and must impose on the individual. Any- 
one who has attained this clear insight, by means of careful study 
and independent reflection and especially by analytic observation 
of child mind, will readily be in position to evaluate all peda- 
gogic material from the viewpoint of social ethics and to ad- 
minister school discipline in such a way as to prevent the rise 
of bitterness and crudity, the tendency to treachery and deceit 
among the pupils, but rather subjective invigo ration, cheerful 
cooperation and spontaneous subjection. 

Every teacher has at his disposal an extensive literature on 
ethics and sociology adapted to such study as this. The rich- 
est collection of materials for the actual evolution of the moral 
sense is found in Westermarck's Origin and Development of 
Moral Ideas. (2 vols.) No library should be without this 
book. But as respects the various theories, everyone must be 
free to choose the guide with whose help he is best able to ac- 
quire clear insight. It is of course beyond my present task to 
discuss the leading moral theories and critically state my atti- 
tude towards each one. And this would be of little value to 
the teacher who is seeking help. On the other hand I may 
perhaps rather hope to facilitate the orientation of one or an- 
other by briefly outlining my own views and try to show how 
they apply to the problems of the school. 

The moral evolution of the human race, in my judgment, 
reveals two tendencies which frequently operate against each 
other. On the one hand human society in the form of the 
herd, the tribe, the class, the nationality, the state coerces the 
individual into subjection and servitude to the whole. It im- 
poses requirements upon us which in conscience we find obliga- 



Ethical and Social Problems 165 

tory. Public condemnation or even punishment are the con- 
sequences which follow the ignoring or the violation of these 
requirements. The sum total of obligations which society im- 
poses on the individual may be expressed in the comprehensive 
term, duty towards humanity. Social conscience bids us fulfill 
our duty towards humanity. (Cf. Jerusalem, Introduction to 
Philosophy, Eng. Tr., p. 271.) On the other hand every man 
constantly learns to appreciate his individual dignity more highly. 
The mere fulfillment of social requirements ceases to satisfy us 
in direct proportion to the degree to which our individual per- 
sonality has been developed. We impose obligations upon our- 
selves and we are dissatisfied until we are conscious of having 
done our best. We likewise resist social requirements when- 
ever these impair the dignity of our individual personality. As 
Kant puts it, we discover that we are no longer mere means 
but that we are ends in ourselves. The sum total of the re- 
quirements thus evolved may be described as personal worth 
or dignity. 

We shall proceed to investigate this twofold development of 
morality in the human race a little more thoroughly. 

2. Personal Duty and Personal Dignity 

Human society is the birthplace of moral ideas. Wester- 
marck, in the work previously cited, has not only made this 
affirmation, but he has demonstrated it incontrovertibly by an 
overwhelming abundance of inductive matters of fact. All 
morality is both in its origin and, as I shall hope to show, like- 
wise in its essence, of a social nature. This depends on the 
fact that, as Aristotle observed, man is by nature a social being 
{(f>vcrei ttoXltlkov ^mov, Politics I, 2). And as a matter of fact 
we find that man, wherever we first come in contact with him 
in history and wherever explorers meet with him — frequently 
under very primitive conditions — always lives in groups. The 
attachment of the individual to the general will of his group, 
i.e., his attachment to custom, moral conceptions and the ideas of 
religious faith, is greater on the lower levels of civilization than 
on the higher, but some kind of attachment is always present. A 
completely isolated individual, entirely separate from human 
society never occurs and never will occur. For: 



1 66 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

Der Mensch bedarf des Menschen sehr 
Zu seinem grossen Ziele 
Und nur im Ganzen wirket er. 

Under primitive conditions this attachment of the individual 
remains largely unconscious and likewise acts instinctively. 
The individual regulates his conduct according to the customs 
and morals of his ancestry without giving the matter much 
thought. But as the groups increase in size and the state 
assumes more complicated forms, the requirements which the 
group imposes on the individual becomes more clearly and 
more sharply defined. In this way every citizen becomes clearly 
aware of his obligation to the group as a whole. It is only the 
clear consciousness of this demand of the whole that comes 
under the term duty. 

The term duty is wholly a social concept and possesses all the 
attributes which we have previously suggested as the character- 
istics of society. As a social concept duty possesses imperative 
character and impresses the individual as an authoritative com- 
mand. But duty likewise reveals that peculiar dual nature of 
which we have spoken above. It is in us as a consciousness of 
duty, as a sense of duty and acts as an impelling and an inhibit- 
ing influence on our wills. But it is also outside us, it stands 
over us as something super-individual, super-personal, as power 
and authority. This super-individual something has power to 
coerce us, to impose punishment and confer reward. This idea 
of possible condemnation and punishment is a constant element 
of duty, as long as it retains its strictly social character. The 
power which meets us here as something super-personal is the 
general will of society as expressed in the existing laws and in- 
stitutions. In this way the concept of duty, arising from purely 
human factors, soon takes on a strongly religious aspect. Even 
in Homer we find that kings and judges protect the laws 
ITpo? Aco?, i.e., as ambassadors of Zeus, the supreme god. We 
likewise read that Zeus sends a wind-storm because men distort 
the law, banish justice and pay no heed to the will of the gods. 
Zeus is likewise the protector of strangers and beggars. In- 
stitutions and laws acquire a somewhat sacred and eternal 
aspect by this connection with super-sensible powers. Anyone 
who breaks the laws is not only an enemy and a traitor, but 
even a blasphemer against the divine will. 



Ethical and Social Problems 167 

But in this way the general will, once it assumes the form of 
the regulations of society, acquires a decidedly conservative 
character. These institutions have revealed their adaptability 
to the maintenance of the social structure, and they must there- 
fore not be disturbed. A counter force eventually arises within 
society in opposition to this conservative tendency, which is 
produced and brought to maturity by social evolution itself, 
notwithstanding its apparently anti-social and revolutionary 
activity, as a matter of fact, contributes tremendously to the 
progress of social evolution. This power consists of the hu- 
man individual with an intensified consciousness of his personal 
dignity. Let us examine how this new power arises and its 
method of operation. 

Every cultural advance produces a more complicated organi- 
zation of economic life or is rather conditioned and supported 
by this progress in economic intercourse. But the increased 
demands can only be satisfied by a constantly increasing division 
of labor. The intensive and extensive division of labor has 
therefore already been long recognized as the characteristic 
mark of every higher cultural evolution. Where the agricul- 
turist and his family formerly provided their own food, their 
shelter, their clothing and their utensils themselves, this busi- 
ness is now divided among the miller, the baker, the tailor, the 
locksmith, the carpenter and mechanic. In addition to these, 
the founding of cities gives rise to numerous other vocations 
which owe their origin to the newly evolved demands. The 
inevitable consequence of every division of labor moreover is 
an increasing differentiation of interests and a concomitant dif- 
ferentiation of characters. The agriculturist who lives with 
his family from the products of the fields will naturally be 
most deeply interested in the preservation of the existing institu- 
tions. An increase of the necessities of life multiplies his dif- 
ficulties. Every political upheaval, every war threatens his 
property. At the same time his uniform occupation, which 
only rarely requires haste makes him slow and perhaps dull in 
intellect. Once in a while the functional necessities of his 
emotional nature seeks excitement and on this account gives 
eager ear to the recital of the histories of " war and rumors 
of war." 

" Sie mogen sich die Kopfe spalten, 
Doch nur zu Hause bleib's beira Alten." 



1 68 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

The tradesman, on the other hand, must be more versatile. 
Competition forces him constantly to be on the lookout for 
new methods of operation and new markets for his goods. He 
is therefore interested in everything new and he is consequently 
more ready for changes. So likewise the professional soldiers 
will evolve different characteristics from the peaceful citizen. 
It is by some such process of differentiation as this that certain 
individuals are developed, which formerly submitted to the gen- 
eral will rather instinctively and unconsciously, into personali- 
ties who do their own thinking, who try to put their own judg- 
ment, their own interest, their own principles into effect. 

The independent individual, the self-sufficient personality 
does not exist from the beginning, but first appears as a product 
of social evolution. He is admittedly one of its most valuable 
and most significant products. While independently thinking 
personalities are evolved from the human herd a downright in- 
exhaustible supply of new spiritual energies are set free, which, 
with their infinite capacities, are capable of creating civilization 
in the real sense of that term. 

Man, once he has matured, no longer accepts laws and in- 
stitutions without question as matters of course and unchange- 
able. He has come to feel himself a being with powers and 
values distinctly his own and at times regards himself hampered, 
debased and robbed of his rights by the statutes which are 
sanctified by tradition. Subjectively revolting and becoming 
indignant, he raises his protest against the oppressions imposed 
by the power of the eternally bygone and finds a hearing and 
an understanding appreciation among kindred spirits. This 
gives rise to the battle of the individual struggling for the 
freer exercise of his powers against every kind of social bondage, 
a battle which began over two thousand years ago, manifested 
itself in the most varied forms and is not yet at an end. There 
are periods of history in which this battle attains exceptional 
prominence. Permit me to present several of these in order 
that the nature of this conflict which profoundly uproots hu- 
manity and thus becomes a mighty dynamic of progress may be 
conceived more clearly and realistically. 

During the fifth and fourth centuries B. c, we behold this 
prolific strife of intellects vividly portrayed in Athens, the 
training school of Hellas (TratSevo-is 'EXXaSo?). The speeches of 



Ethical and Social Problems 169 

Kalli'cles in Plato's Gorgias, no less by their utter lack of con- 
sideration for tradition than in their finished st)de, furnish a 
peculiarly clear illustration of this intellectual current. The 
irresponsibility of the strong personality, its privilege of injustice 
and force is vigorously defended against Socrates — Plato, v^ho 
emphasizes adherence to the moral law, w^hich, notwithstanding 
its super-individual and transcendental origin, can be developed 
within the soul of each individual human being. 

Christianity, in deepest essence, is nothing more than the 
deliverance of the individual from the overwhelming pressure 
of the law. In post-exilic Judaism this law had become an 
absolute authority in the presence of which the individual was 
forbidden to know or do anything, save to yield absolute sub- 
servience. When Christianity turns its attention to man's sub- 
jective self, digs up his feelings in their profoundest depths 
with tremendous energy, demands superhuman reactions from 
his will in lieu of which, moreover, satisfaction is promised for 
the individual's need of redemption, it released spiritual energies 
which were entirely new, which until then had been practically 
dormant. Each individual human being now acquires an im- 
portance of his own, for like all others he is a child of God. 
This spontaneous development of spiritual powers has indeed 
suffered serious restriction through the organization of Chris- 
tianity into an ecclesiastical institution. The church, as a mat- 
ter of course, is founded on authority rather than on liberty. 
In sole possession of the means of grace it in large measure as- 
sumes responsibility for the life of the individual and thus lulls 
to sleep again the conscience which Christ had aroused. Per- 
sonality, grown stronger, arrays itself against this tutelage once 
more in two movements which are essentially distinct from 
each other. The one movement is protestantism, which, at the 
beginning aims to reinstate the deliverance of the mind from 
the tyranny of dogma and law characteristic of primitive Chris- 
tianity and accordingly finds enthusiastic adherents. True, it 
is not long until protestantism likewise is seized with the torpor 
of an authoritative church, but it nevertheless seems that here 
there is somewhat more room for the spontaneous development 
of personal conviction. 

The other form of the disenthrallment of the individual is 
the still active movement of humanism and the renaissance. 



I70 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

Here it is the Greeks who put man into possession of himself 
once more and, by their world-view characteristically devoted 
to life, again establish the distinctive worth of each individual 
human being and joy in the developing of personal energies. 
This so-called civil emancipation of mankind is still in process 
of development. The eighteenth century enlightenment issuing 
from England, temperamentally intensified in France, the storm 
and stress and neohumanism in Germany, the sanguinary strug- 
gle for human rights in America and France, all this is but the 
same constant striving after the realization of the distinctive 
dignity of each individual human personality. 

The most important product of this cultural evolution con- 
sists of a new moral ideal which correlates with the require- 
ments of human duty previously elaborated and suffuses it with 
a new spirit. We shall describe this new moral ideal as the 
impulse towards the dignity of man. Every human individual 
is therefore no longer merely a laboring animal among the herd, 
not merely an enslaved member of society, but possesses unique 
dignity as a man, as a representative of the human species. 
Laws and institutions which violate personal dignity must be 
vigorously assailed. Humanity must be respected in the in- 
solvent debtor, yea even in the criminal. And the rack has 
been abolished by the sway of this new ideal of the dignity of 
man, the whipping post has likewise receded into the background 
and regard for humanity also appears in various other ways in 
our penal laws. This new requirement in the first place ex- 
pands the circle of duties. Both in legislation and economic 
life new duties of benevolence have arisen. And these new 
ideals have produced even more profound results upon man sub- 
jectively than objectively. My conscience is no longer satisfied 
when I have met the objective requirements imposed upon me 
by the state and society. The dignity of man demands of me 
that I develop all my powers, that I do my best to advance and 
realize my better self. 

The moral law of human dignity has been set forth and 
elaborated most analytically and most penetratingly by Im- 
manuel Kant. " Act so as to use humanity, whether in your 
own person or in the person of another, always as and end, never 
as merely a means." This famous second formulation of the 
"categorical imperative" constitutes a whole moral program. 



Ethical and Social Problems 171 

Kant, as is Indeed characteristic of his ethics, has likewise over- 
strained this requirement. His unconditional rejection of ly- 
ing, deduced from the principle of human dignity, is impractical 
in social life, it sometimes even conflicts with higher social 
duties. But notwithstanding this his requirements elaborated 
with relentless logical consistency continue to be of vast sig- 
nificance. He constructs an ideal, the realization of which 
steels one's energies even if he knows it is beyond the reach of 
mortals. 

We also discover an overstrain of this individualistic prin- 
ciple among the protagonists of neohumanism in romanticism. 
Goethe's remark that personality is the highest fortune of mun- 
dane children is frequently quoted. William v. Humboldt is 
a typical representative of this view of the moral task of man- 
kind. We have quoted several passages above, from which it 
follows that Humboldt felt man's highest duty to consist in 
developing all his capacities and to be constantly occupied with 
this finishing of his subjective self. Humboldt even resigned 
a state appointment early in life in order to devote himself 
entirely to this problem of self-discipline. Even though he 
later again served the state in important positions, the refine- 
ment of personality still remains his express moral ideal. " My 
vocation seemed to me to be to discover the path which would 
lead me, me alone, to the highest destiny." We discover similar 
endeavors among the earlier romanticists, where among other 
factors the aesthetic motives predominate. 

During the nineteenth century a powerful reaction against 
this onesided cultivation of the individualistic principle set in, 
which went to the opposite extreme and emphasized the social 
problem of humanity so vigorously, that the new moral ideal of 
human dignity, achieved through the struggle of centuries, fell 
into abeyance. This reaction is the product of economic evolu- 
tion. The invention of the steam engine, railways, steamship 
propellers and telegraphy has resulted in a colossal advance in 
the industries. Great manufacturing establishments arose in 
which the hosts of laborers were completely subordinated to the 
will of the manager. Unrestrained egoism was elevated to the 
distinction of a principle in economic life by the so-called Man- 
chester plan. The wages of labor is then simply an administra- 
tive account for the manager, which he naturally seeks to keep 



172 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

as low as possible. Laborers were therefore rapidly worn out 
and frequently received such small wages that they were scarcely 
able to appease their hunger. On the other hand the army of 
the proletariat arose inspired by their leading spirits with a 
consciousness of their rights and power. This gave rise to 
the powerful social-democracy movement which is still on the in- 
crease. The organization of the laboring classes is becoming 
increasingly more general and at the same time more robust. 
'* Expropriation of the expropriator " was the watchword of 
the earlier more revolutionary period. Later on the movement 
developed into a systematic program, in which a complete change 
in the organization of society based upon private property is 
demanded. '' The nationalization of all the instruments of 
production " expresses the chief point of this program. This 
means that the production of all goods required for the satisfac- 
tion of the primary necessities of mankind shall no longer be 
left to private enterprise and free competition, but shall be 
administered by the state organized on a social-democratic basis. 
In this state the obligation to work shall be universal and the 
accumulation of a large amount of capital in the hands of a 
few individuals shall be made an impossibility. 

The problem whether this program is at all feasible, whether 
such a state of affairs is reconcilable with the actual variations 
in human capacity and tenable for any length of time does not 
concern us here. We have only to consider the extent to which 
this movement has modified the moral ideas of the civilized 
nations. We must observe then that since the beginning of 
Christianity there has been no spiritual factor that has been 
so active in this respect as modern socialism. The appreciation 
of the value of labor has increased so remarkably in public opin- 
ion that the idea of the universal obligation to work no longer 
appears entirely Utopian. The wages of labor have been pal- 
pably increased, the length of the work day has been shortened. 
Practically all nations have found it necessary to pass laws 
which are intended to guarantee the protection of the laborer, 
their superannuates, invalid and accident insurance. People 
speak more than ever before of the obligations of wealth and 
the idea that the state dare not permit the principle of unre- 
stricted egoism in economic life is constantly winning new 
adherents. 



Ethical and Social Problems 1 73 

The ethical principle which is active in this movement is 
without doubt social through and through. The sphere of 
duties for each individual is enlarged and his dependence on 
the social whole is more sharply and decisively defined. Every- 
one must know that he owes certain obligations to the social 
organism to which he belongs, and he must constantly be kept 
in mind of the fact that he can be required to discharge these 
obligations. Society imperiously remands the individual, at 
whose emancipation it had been unconsciously working, back 
into its service. It refuses to concede that the highly developed 
powers be employed according to the pleasure of the individual. 
It rather claims the whole man with all his dispositions and 
capacities for itself and forces him into its service. 

But on the other hand powerful voices begin to protest 
against this socialization of the enfranchised and richly endowed 
individual, and demanded, — and in fact partly accomplished, — 
by all parties of social reform. Herbert Spencer, whom Ludwig 
Stein once pertinently called the philosopher of liberalism, in 
his Man Versus State, describes the conditions involved in 
the program of social democracy as " the coming slavery." 
Friedrich Nietzsche's philosophy, in its deepest meaning, is 
nothing more than a vigorous and finally a forceful emancipa- 
tion of subjective man from the tyranny of tradition and from 
the tyranny of the masses. In his Irresistible and incredibly 
forceful Insistence on absolute honesty, on herloc loj^alty to self, 
he becomes so extraordinarily clear-vlsioned for the downright 
frightful amount of hypocrisy to be found In national cus- 
tom and unfortunately even in national ethics. Nietzsche per- 
ished in this desperate battle for the freedom of personality 
against the enforced subordination of the individual to the social 
whole but his works constitute a rich armory whence many 
coming generations will draw weapons against unjustified sup- 
pression of free personality among men. Nietzsche's influence 
upon our modern youth has frequently been quite unfortunate 
and dangerous because he was not yet fully understood. But 
now since men begin to estimate him more objectively, the 
depths of his psychological penetration and the pure upright- 
ness of his sentiment will doubtless become an exceedingly valu- 
able cultural factor. 

In connection with Nietzsche and due to the pressure of in- 



174 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

creasing socialization a kind of neoromanticism and personality- 
cult, supported partly by aesthetic, partly by religious motives, 
has evolved since the beginning of the twentieth century. This 
is likewise a reaction of individualism against the demands of 
society which are becoming overwhelming, a battle of human 
dignity against the frequently oppressive human duty. This 
personality-cult might doubtless develop into a new source of 
energy, but thus far it lacks a firm psychical basis. As we have 
previously observed, man quite frequently regards transitory 
moods, superficial wishes, fancied sympathies and antipathies as 
effluences of personality and thinks self-development consists 
in following every inspiration and neglecting distasteful tasks. 
At present we frequently find young people utterly lacking in 
subjective stability. We see how young boys and girls frivo- 
lously throw their young life away, which nevertheless belongs 
to the family and to the state, just because a single wish re- 
mains unfulfilled, because not every budding dream matures. 
These sad facts, which unfortunately are increasing daily, 
should furnish cause for reflection to all fanatics of individual 
liberty, and especially all who never weary of emphasizing that 
every child brings its finished individuality into the world and 
that this individuality must be fostered, indulged and coddled 
and dare not be suppressed by any kind of coercion. The 
thought expressed by Ellen Key, that this is the century of the 
child, is indeed a profound idea. The modern theory of evolu- 
tion finds its most fruitful application in the demand that we 
direct our education towards the future rather than the past. 
By this I mean that the aim of education dare no longer con- 
sist in so influencing the pupils that they walk in the paths 
laid out for them by their teachers and become like their 
forebears. The theory of evolution teaches us that each genera- 
tion produces something new and that we should therefore in- 
stil in our children the capacity of contributing to the creation 
and development of the new. But just for the very reason 
that we regard education as an aid to evolution and wish to 
help our children to develop complete, well-rounded personali- 
ties, we must not forget the fact that this involves consideration 
for the social requirements quite as well as the development of 
the individual dispositions. We must be clearly aware of the 
fact that we are at present right in the midst of the struggle 



Ethical and Social Problems 175 

of these two evolutionary tendencies. The problem of po- 
litical civilization and of philosophical civilization of the twenti- 
eth century, in my opinion consists in making possible the syn- 
thesis of individualism and socialism, the reconciliation of the 
ideas of personal duty and personal dignity. The state as the 
authorized agent of society should be so constituted as to be 
able to require and compel its subjects to fulfill their social 
obligations without injury to their personal dignity. We dare 
not permit or even establish any institutions w^hich betray or 
even force the individual to resort to falsehood, treachery and 
deceit because the burdens imposed by the state are unbearable. 
On the contrary each individual should clearly understand — 
and education must provide for this — that it is to the best 
advantage of every citizen to be vitally associated with the 
state. He should never forget that railroads, the postal service, 
telegraph and telephone are impossible without the cooperation 
of the state. He should be taught to see that the state furnishes 
him the opportunity of educating his children, protects him 
against the ravages of epidemic and safeguards his rights. 
Everj^one must become familiar with the idea that such advan- 
tages require personal sacrifices and active cooperation in the 
further development of the state. 

At present we are still far short of the actualization of this 
synthesis. In fact we must even confess that the consciousness 
of its necessity is as yet not very general. The state and the 
individual still largely assume a hostile attitude towards each 
other. Government officials still regard the individual citizen 
largely as a man bent on resisting authority, evading taxation, 
despoiling the public treasury and securing private advantages 
at the expense of the state. The motto of our Crown Prince 
Rudolph, who unfortunately died too soon, that man is the 
most valuable asset of the state, is still far from receiving ade- 
quate recognition by the governments. The individual like- 
wise frequently merely regards the state as a superior enemy 
who extorts taxes, requires military service and interposes 
bureaucratic obstacles in the way of his private enterprizes. 

Here the schools, and especially the high school, and their 
teachers are confronted with a vast problem, fraught with much 
blessing. We must cooperate in effecting this absolutely nec- 
essary synthesis. We must inspire our pupils with the social 



176 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

spirit and at the same time train them to preserve their personal 
independence, their personal dignity. It is for us to hold them 
to a strict accounting with duty, to indelibly implant in 
their minds the sense of moral responsibility and at the same 
time to develop their individuality and not be satisfied with 
anything less than having done their very best. We must 
show them examples and if possible let them discover for them- 
selves that there can be no more intensive, delightful and ef- 
fective development of personality than that which comes from 
a complete dedication of one's self, together with all his powers, 
to some self-chosen social task. 

Examples of men who have made a brilliant success of this 
synthesis of personal duty and personal dignity are not so very 
numerous. It is therefore the more important to present these 
few as clearly as possible and make frequent reference to them. 
Among these there is one especially with whom our pupils be- 
come acquainted rather early in their course and concerning 
whom they later on have opportunity to acquire authoritative 
information. I have in mind the personality of Socrates. He 
loyally performed his duty as a citizen, going thrice to the front 
and there furnishing his man. And at the same time he chose 
a vocation, in harmony with his individuality, which consisted 
in arousing the moral consciousness of his fellow citizens. He 
remained loyal to this calling and went down to death for his 
vocation. Twice the state charged him with violations of the 
law and both times he disproved the charge. " Neither the 
threatening mien of tyrants, nor the passions of the rabble, 
boding him ill " disturbed the stability of his purpose. In his 
defense he gave expression to words that deserve reflection: 
" Whenever anyone assumes a position because he thinks it best 
or whenever his superior assigns a position, there he must perse- 
vere in danger." Here we have the synthesis of personal duty 
and personal dignity clearly and vividly illustrated and ex- 
pressed by a man who, by his life and even more by his death, 
suffused this principle with vital power. In the lessons on 
Plato's Apology I have repeatedly taken occasion, in connection 
with this passage, to discuss man's moral problems with the 
senior pupils, and invariably found them participating in these 
explanations with lively interest. And in this connection we 
can again see that the highest demands of the present were 



Ethical and Social Problems 177 

anticipated by the Greeks. 

We have thus discovered an important and effective principle 
for our ethico-social problem. Every teacher w^ho has thor- 
oughly assimilated this line of thought w^ill find abundant op- 
portunity in teaching to instil this sentiment in the pupils. 
And better still, in the administration of discipline he v^^ill be 
in position to apply the method of the " pastor " rather than 
that of the *' policeman," as Foerster has so well observed. 
Although every teacher will apply this principle in conformity 
with his own individuality many will perhaps nevertheless 
welcome a few suggestions on its practical application in the 
school. 

3. The Social Spirit in School 

By the term '' social spirit " I have no reference whatever to 
any political partizan tendency nor even any specific effort to- 
wards the reconstruction of the existing social order. It is im- 
portant to emphasize this at present so as not to be misunder- 
stood. The social spirit, a sum-total judgment, emotion- and 
volition-impulses which arouse our consciousness and keep it 
alert to the fact that every man is born into a highly developed 
social order, that his development has tremendous advantages 
and his life's meaning is immeasurably enhanced as a result 
of this fact, and that he is therefore called upon and in duty 
bound to contribute to the continuance and further development 
of this social organism. If we keep constantly in mind the 
fact that the large majority of our pupils are destined, even by 
their position to serve the community, the state, no one will 
doubt the importance of our being concerned to effect a vigor- 
ous development of the social spirit in them. 

Modern sociology has taught us that the individual's depend- 
ence on his social milieu is far greater than was previously sup- 
posed. Not only are volitional tendencies and tastes affected 
by custom and fashion, but intellect and knowledge are largely 
products of social cooperation. There are many at the present 
time who regard this fact as a fetter, a drag on individual de- 
velopment, as we have just now indicated. But these com- 
plaints do not banish the unalterable fact of social influence from 
the world. It is useless and a highly injudicious waste of energy 
to be constantly kicking against the social pricks. We must 



178 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

live in a social group and we must therefore acquire the char- 
acters which facilitate this community life and advance our in- 
terests. It will soon appear that the social organism which 
we serve by no means merely restrains our individual develop- 
ment. We shall soon discover that the most powerful impulses, 
the most effective enlargements of our ego proceed from this 
social organism. 

Sociology is still a youthful science. It has thus far failed 
to describe adequately the relations of the individual to the 
social whole of which he is a part and reduce them to systematic 
order. We are consequently not in position to submit our pro- 
posals for the cultivation of the social spirit in the school on 
the basis of a scientifically elaborated plan. We must rather 
be satisfied to lay hold of those factors of the social spirit which 
manifest themselves clearly in the practical life of the school. 

Even the ordinary conduct of instruction furnishes consider- 
able opportunity to prepare the pupils for future social life: 
here the habit of industry, which we have previously described 
as an important pedagogic principle, must be emphasized first 
of all. We must call attention to the fact that the habit of 
industry is an exceedingly important part of social education. 
The appreciation of work, as we have repeatedly observed, is 
increasing because we are constantly becoming better acquainted 
with its social significance. Social evolution is unquestionably 
moving in the direction of a constantly decreasing toleration of 
an indolent existence which even Plato declared to be detesta- 
ble. (Rep. VIII, 552.) Hence if we accustom our pupils 
each day to regard a definite amount of work as their irremis- 
sible duty for the passing day, we have in fact breathed into 
them a breath of the social spirit. Goethe once answered the 
question, "What constitutes your duty?" as follows: "The 
demand of the day." But this simply means daily, uniform 
occupation. At present the term work does not apply to every 
definite occupation which likewise intensely engages one's pow- 
ers. Work in the narrower sense implies only such occupation 
as produces results of value not only for the workman, but 
likewise for others. The thought of those who need or expect 
the product of labor is intimately associated with the nature of 
work and this clothes labor in the real sense of the term with 
an altruistic, and especially a social character. But the habit 



Ethical and Social Problems 179 

of Industry Is likewise of great value to man as an Individual. 
The Infant organism Is so constituted that It desires the exercise 
of Its powers. By furnishing this Impulse an opportunity for 
exercise In the proper manner we produce a happy, subjective 
self-gratification. I am reminded of once having read the 
following in one of Schiller's letters: " But the best of all is 
industry; it not only produces the means of livelihood, It even 
gives life its real value." Hence while habituating our pupils 
to work we are furnishing their native functional need the op- 
portunity for delightful exercise and at the same time fit them 
for social efficiency. 

The cultivation of a sense of order and punctuality is In- 
timately associated with the habit of industry. It has fre- 
quently been observed that order facilitates every effort. But 
there are far deeper reasons which impel us to inculcate orderli- 
ness, and the duty of the most exact precision even In little things 
as well as the punctual meeting of appointments. Modern life 
is constantly developing more vocations in which Important In- 
terests are conditioned on minute, even the most detailed pre- 
cision and not infrequently it Involves the life of many human 
beings. We need only refer to the postal and railway service, 
technical engineering in the building of tunnels and aqueducts, 
the critical operations of surgery, the prescription of medicine, 
etc. The slightest error here Is frequently fraught with the 
most dire consequences. It is therefore the duty of social edu- 
cation to hold the pupils of the higher schools, many of whom 
will eventually occupy such responsible positions, to order, 
punctuality and precision from the beginning. The reproach 
of pedantry frequently charged against teachers In such cases 
will, in view of the vast social consequences involved, not be 
regarded as a reproach. Knowledge still constitutes the vast 
significance attributable to man in the small and even smallest 
things of life, one of the triumphs of modern science and tech- 
nics. Devastating epidemics have only been effectively counter- 
acted since man has come to recognize their causes in the little 
bacilli and microbes. Our planet has acquired its present form, 
not by mighty revolutions, as was once supposed, but by a grad- 
ual condensation and cooling process, and it is only since man 
has learned the summation of these minimal changes that geol- 
ogy has been placed on a scientific basis. The larger organism 



i8o Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

is made up of minute cells and only he who understands the 
nature of the cell can comprehend the structure and function 
of the higher organs. In similar fashion also the commonplace 
in civil life, the ordinary, the minimal attains its significance and 
it is precisely the investigation of the commonplace that has 
shed the clearest light on the past epochs. 

We are right in line with the spirit of modern life and modern 
science therefore, if we cultivate " respect for small things." 
The teaching of mathematics and especially philology as well 
as the administration of discipline furnishes opportunity to this 
end. The pupils must be brought to see what greatness is fre- 
quently involved in loyalty in little things. The will for the 
good is actually good and really strong only as it extends to 
the smallest veins and receptacles of the soul and completely per- 
vades the whole. Any one who is tardy, even though it is but 
for a single time, disturbs the teaching and he has thus injured 
both the teacher and his fellow pupils. We should understand 
how to influence the public sentiment of the class in this direc- 
tion. An excellent method of accomplishing this is to enlist 
the cooperation of the pupils in the maintenance of order and 
cleanliness in the classroom. The moment they become guardi- 
ans their native impulse towards activity, which only too easily 
finds vent in disturbances and vicious pranks, will be guided 
into correct channels and thus contribute to subjective invigora- 
tion. The teacher himself must at least exert an influence in 
this direction by his example. If he always begins the recita- 
tion promptly on time, returns written exercises at the proper 
time and exercises care in his corrections, the pupils will be able 
to see in him their example. On the contrary it is absolutely 
impossible to maintain order and punctuality among others 
if a man is indifferent to such things himself, and thereby shows 
that he has not yet learned the real greatness of being faithful 
in little things. 

Work and order succeed only under intelligent guidance. 
This naturally falls to the duty of the teacher. It goes with- 
out saying that it can succeed only as the pupils conform with 
the regulations laid down by the teacher, i.e., as they sponta- 
neously obey. Obedience has from the earliest times been re- 
garded as the first duty of the citizen and as the most impor- 
tant duty of the pupil. It would be superfluous to speak in 



Ethical and Social Problems l8l 

detail of training to obedience. But we have generally been 
thinking, in connection with this term, of a purely passive obedi- 
ence, the involuntary subjection to the will of the stronger. 
This form of obedience is likewise indispensable, but only as 
preliminaiy to the higher form. If obedience is not to operate 
as a mere inhibiting instrument, which suppresses powerful 
emotions and thus excites opposition, if obedience is rather to 
arouse new powers and inspire the social spirit it must rest on 
an entirely different foundation. The pupils must be brought 
to understand the profound meaning of the passage from the 
Iphigenia: "And obedient I always felt my soul most beau- 
tifully free! " This will happen only as the teacher understands 
so to enlist the interest of the pupils for the task of instruction 
that it becomes a common interest for both teacher and pupil, 
which both serve. If the teacher and the pupils together are 
interested in solving this somewhat complicated mathematical 
problem by the simplest and neatest possible method, that the 
passage of a foreign language immediately under discussion 
shall be really well translated and thoroughly understood, in- 
struction has then become a common undertaking, in which it 
is assumed that one leads and the others follow. The pupils 
know full well from their games that things run smoothly only 
as the self-appointed leader, who well understands how to 
regulate and guide, has command and all the others strictly 
and vigorously obey. We must seek to enlist these latent pow- 
ers of our youth for our cause. The teacher has been trans- 
formed from an officially appointed master into an eagerly 
and spontaneously recognized leader obedience to whom has 
become a matter of course. Obedience regulated in this fash- 
ion is no longer inhibitive or repressive. Rather the opposite. 
The pupils experience a sense of cooperation in their obedience. 
This kind of obedience quickens new powers within their souls 
and the genuine social spirit is thus evolved. 

It is not so very easy to offer practical suggestions as to how 
this transformation may be brought about. It bears a close 
analogy to the transference of intellectual authority to imper- 
sonal science previously elaborated. The teacher will per- 
haps more easily discover the method of attaining this active 
and spontaneous obedience if he recalls the lines of Antonio in 
Goethe's '' Tasso '' : 



iSz Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

Es ist kein schonerer Anblick in der Welt, 
Als ein Fiirsten sehn, der klug regiert, 
Das Reich zu sehn, wo jeder stoltz gehorcht; 
Wo jeder nur sich selbst zu dienen glaubt, 
Weil ihm das Rechte nur befohlen wird. 

It becomes us to consider precisely, and very precisely, what 
adjustments we have to make. We must become perfectly 
clear in our own minds, on all that pertains to this matter, by 
careful preparation even to the smallest detail. We can only 
require such things of the pupils as they are able to do, and we 
to control. But once an order is given the only thing to do is 
to insist with absolute consistency on its execution. There 
must be no evasion, no pretext, no forgetting and no wearying. 
Foerster speaks of a " Militarism of a superior order " which 
he contrasts with the frequently customary " gruff tone of the 
corporal." We can appropriate this idea because we are trying 
to develop a kind of " tactical consciousness " in the class, which 
proceeds from a strong sense of solidarity and is capable of in- 
creasing the achievements of the whole class. The most impor- 
tant point here moreover is this, namely, that the solidarity 
include the teacher and does not degenerate into a conspiracy 
against the teacher. Then obedience is combined with subjec- 
tive liberty, with intensified satisfaction and likewise with self- 
discipline. 

Industry, the sense of order, punctuality and obedience are 
without doubt social virtues. They inspire the social spirit and 
prepare men for community life. But they maintain their con- 
nection with the center of social spirit only as they contribute 
to the quickening and strengthening of the sense of individual 
moral responsibility among the pupils. And we have repeat- 
edly observed that the secondary school should train its pupils 
not only to intellectual independence, but likewise to moral re- 
sponsibility (pp. 79, 83, 122). It is of the nature of the social 
spirit that whoever is inspired by it is conscious of the whole 
of which he is a part in all his actions. He never forgets to 
keep in mind the consequences of his actions and especially of 
his omissions, and to permit these ideas to constantly determine 
his conduct. The sense of responsibility, in the truest sense, is 
social in its nature and evolves only in society and by society. 



Ethical and Social Problems 183 

By developing the habit of industry and punctuality, by the vig- 
orous cultivation of obedience in spontaneous subjection vre 
prepare our pupils for the later development of the sense of 
responsibility. But at this point the school ought to do more. 
We should furnish the pupils opportunity, even during the 
period of their education, to experience what responsibility 
means, we should permit them to experience this emotion often 
and deeply. 

Under the present method of discipline, which is based on 
the authority of the teacher and the passive obedience of the 
pupils there is but little opportunity for this. We can at best 
assign certain pupils definite tasks by giving them charge say of 
keeping the blackboard clean, the record of absences, the col- 
lection of contributions. But this reaches only a few and be- 
yond this the required services are so easily discharged that 
they contribute very little to the quickening of the sense of 
moral responsibility. In Am.erica this difficulty has been recog- 
nized for some time already, giving rise to the idea of enlisting 
the cooperation of the pupils in the maintenance of order and 
also to secure organized cooperation in other ways. Efforts in 
this direction have also been made in Switzerland, in Germany 
and in Austria, — but on a far more modest scale. The reader 
will find a very complete summary of the experiments and 
achievements in this line in Foerster School and Character. In 
supplementation I should like to call attention to Colin A. 
Scott's Social Education. I unfortunately have no practical 
experience on this point. I can therefore only express my 
theoretical conviction, on the basis of psychological and socio- 
logical considerations together with the published reports of 
individual teachers, that the only way to train our pupils effec- 
tively to moral responsibility is by this method of " student self- 
government." 

Since, as I have observed, I have no practical experience in 
" self-government," I present the most important facts from 
the repeatedly published reports of individual teachers in order 
that the method of applying this principle in the practical life 
of the school may be apparent to teachers. This system has 
been most extensively applied in the American public and city 
schools where girls and boys are generally taught together. 
Whole school cities and even school states have been organized 



184 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

whose " constitutions " rest on a strictly democratic and con- 
stitutional basis. The reports are unanimous in emphasizing the 
brilliant successs of the system everywhere. The pupils in their 
own " assemblies " choose a number of " officers " for certain 
functions and work out " school laws " and " school regula- 
tions." The officers chosen on their own initiative provide for 
order and cleanliness, sit in judgment on such as have violated 
the law and work for the maintenance of the discipline, which 
formerly was wholly a matter of the teacher's autocratic re- 
quirement or prohibition. It develops a " public sentiment " 
among the pupils which, now that the pupils feel themselves 
responsible for the conduct of the class, reveals an entirely dif- 
ferent spirit than formerly under the despotic regime. The 
pupils thus find opportunity in the various transactions and 
discussions to practice speaking before an assembly and to be- 
come acquainted with parliamentary procedure in general. Re- 
ports show repeatedly that in schools where the worst careless- 
ness and rudeness formerly prevailed, you now find sober moral- 
ity and enthusiastic study. 

In Switzerland during recent years — chiefly through Foers- 
ter's agitations — a number of experiments in *' self-govern- 
ment " have been made in the public schools. The teachers are 
all actually astonished at the result. John Hepp, in a small 
volume on PupiVs Self -Gov eminent gives the following account 
of the motives which led him to introduce the new system and 
its first fruits : " The impudence, carelessness, disorderliness 
on the one hand, and the fickleness, instability and disinclination 
to perform required work neatly and conscientiously on the 
other frequently brought me to desperation. In my efforts to 
preserve order in the classroom I som.etimes felt more like a 
police bailiff than a teacher. I usually kept several pupils after 
school, discussing their difficulties with them, went over their 
work in their presence and tried to train the good people to 
systematic industry, to the discharge of duty. But the greater 
my efforts, the less seemed to be the result — at least gener- 
ally speaking. In my desperation I unfortunately resorted 
to corporal punishment with increasins' freauency. In this way 
it was utterly impossible for the pupils to love school. I felt 
a hidden opposition to my rigorous discipline beginning to germi- 
nate, after the fashion of an uncanny resistance. I saw clearly 



Ethical and Social Problems 185 

that if matters continued as they were the best thinking boys 
would likewise join in with the dissatisfied ones. The fault 
lay not alone with the pupils, but even more largely with me 
and this naturally made me ill-humored in the highest degree. 
I said to myself, if you do not gain their confidence, you can- 
not teach them." 

The writer then tells how, by frequent visitation of the 
pupils' parents he acquired an insight into their home en- 
vironment and thus learned to judge with more moderation. 
He then continues: " I had long been acquainted with the 
American ideas through Foerster's Jugendlehre. Inasmuch as 
I had made more or less of a fiasco of my disciplinary efforts 
hitherto, I resolved to make a trial of governing according to the 
example set by the new world. Until then the ' School city ' 
system had impressed me most favorably on account of the fact 
that I was convinced that it was better adapted than our school 
system to the training of citizens to whose capacity of judgment 
democracy could commit far-reaching decisions. I resolved 
therefore to make my pupils co-partners, to rule with them 
rather than over them. I considered how it might be possible, 
with the help of the better element of the class, to implant a 
public sentiment, to transform the energies, which had been 
making themselves so uncomfortably perceptible in the form 
of resistance to all coercion, into useful, positive achievements 
of helpfulness. Nowhere could I find any special guidance. 
Insuperable diilBculties seemed to thwart my efforts. I ac- 
cordingly determined to first undertake an experiment cau- 
tiously on a small scale, in order that I might eventually enlarge 
upon it on the basis of my experiences. I began with the in- 
significant little offices in vogue in every school; the clean- 
ing of the blackboard, the handing out and collecting of papers, 
portfolios, etc. According to the prevailing custom there w^as 
one paper-collector and one board-cleaner appointed for each 
three rows of seats. The class under my direction first of 
all proposed a schedule of duties for these offices. Later on 
the pupils made nominations and they were given the privilege 
of electing respectively three board-cleaners and three paper col- 
lectors by the method of a majority vote. On this occasion 
I made the interesting observation that no one was chosen whom 
I had hitherto entrusted with the performance of all sorts of 



1 86 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

commissions and errands. They were of course nominated, 
but brilliantly defeated. The term of office was likewise, after 
brief debate, fixed at four weeks by the general assembly. 
That those who were elected by their comrades regarded it as an 
honor to discharge the duties entrusted to them, conscientiously, 
is self-evident. At the end of the month we held a brief review 
of the services of the six officers whose term had expired. The 
pupils were required to make criticisms. In general the views 
of the class corresponded with my own. Any one who has 
made similar experiments will doubtless have observed that, 
generally speaking, the pupils criticise more severely than the 
teacher. But there are always a number of good-hearted 
pupils who reject unjust charges brought against their com- 
rades without the necessary interposition of the teacher. I then 
called their attention to other matters pertaining to the external 
order of the school of which they might actually relieve me ; and 
further that they should cooperate with me in making our 
class a typical example of good order. But I guarded against 
offering suggestions. They must work out their own ideas and 
the ways and means of putting them into execution." 

The writer goes on to tell of the inventiveness frequently man- 
ifested by the boys in working out new methods for the enforce- 
ment of their own regulations. They created the office of 
" window-opener " and the time-consuming and responsible 
office of " chest-keeper " whose business required him to care 
for and clean the drawing materials. Committees of cleanli- 
ness and order were appointed who had to see to it that every 
pupil came to school cleanly washed and that they all clean their 
shoes before entering the room. Hepp gives a very instructive 
illustration of the disciplinary effect of "self-government" 
introduced on a modest scale. " Either through thoughtless- 
ness or as a joke, I do not know which, a terribly dirty fellow 
was once nominated for me for an appointment on the cleanli- 
ness and good order committee and even elected to the delight 
of everybody. And behold, on the following day he not only 
arrived at school on time, w^hich had previously been a rare 
occurrence, but his mother had cut his hair which m its ob- 
stinacy had always given him an unkempt appearance. On 
the following day he brought a roll of towel paper and put it 
at its proper place. And even before the end of the week I 



Ethical and Social Problems 187 

observed that he carried a quite small piece of soap with him. 
He evidently felt that as a member of the committee he must 
turn everj^thing to account if he wished any further advance in 
public esteem. At the end of the four wrecks the class ex- 
pressly acknovrledged that N. had manifested remarkable im- 
provement, had shown himself worthy of his office and dis- 
charged his duties faithfully. I was particularly pleased with 
the result because it taught me how to influence the fellow. 
Without this assistance from his comrades I could in all prob- 
ability never have approached him. Is not a single result like 
this already of infinite value? We must preach morality less, 
and instead open more paths for spontaneous self-activity in the 
sphere of morals. This creates life, this develops moral power." 

A matter of peculiar significance in " self-government " is 
the " public sentiment " among the pupils to which it everywhere 
gives rise. Our author likewise furnishes a typical illustration 
of this point. " The seriousness with which the pupils regard 
the ' laws ' of their own making is revealed in an event which 
happened recently. As I was about to begin school I observed 
a circle of pupils gathered about a certain F. who didn't knowi 
the first thing of obedience, and of duty scarcely even the name. 
Upon inquiry I discovered that he had declined to comply with 
the order of the committee, to wash his hands. He could re- 
sume his place as soon as he would obey. ' Public opinion,' as 
the Americans term it, was against him and he had to yield. 
It is evident that this ' public sentiment ' greatly simplifies the 
administration of discipline for the teacher. The important 
thing is that by the method here described the truth of the prin- 
ciple ' every privilege involves duties and begets duties, respon- 
sibility ' becomes clear to the pupils and is transformed into 
flesh and blood by an object lesson. It is an object lesson in 
democracy on a small scale. Of greater value than the knowl- 
edge of laws is the community spirit, the sense of co-responsi- 
bility for one's neighbor." 

This report, which must impress every one familiar with 
school life with its absolute sincerity, by its clear statement 
illustrated by so many details and characteristic experiences, 
shows how much more effectively pupils can be trained to re- 
sponsibility by self-government. T'his system has thus far been 
chiefly applied to the public schools. But there can be no doubt 



1 88 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

that the high school, whose peculiar task consists in developing 
intellectual independence and moral responsibility, is the place 
where self-government should be cultivated most intensively. 
As a matter of fact experiments with this system have here and 
there already been made, which furnish decided encouragment 
to its continuance and further development. Foerster reports 
that institutions of this sort have recently been introduced in 
the gymnasiums of the Rhine Province. The essential feature 
there consists in the fact that the pupils elect a class committee 
which looks after the maintenance of order and good conduct. 
These committees are associated witfi the class president and 
the principal and may bring the wishes of the pupils to their 
attention. Teachers and principals are quite generally well 
pleased with the results. Foerster quotes the following pas- 
sages from a report of gymnasium-director Prof. Siebourg in 
Miinchen-Gladbach : " We think our organization appeals far 
more strongly to noble class and school spirit and the sense of 
honor, which as a rule is far more highly developed and use- 
ful among our German youth than the purely penal-pedagogy 
is willing to admit. And we hope by this method to acquire 
a powerful support in the battle against dishonesty, which among 
pupils and unfortunately even in the homes of many parents, 
is regarded as an entirely proper weapon of defense. If the 
young man knows that he can express his grievance without 
hesitation and that a well-founded complaint will receive a 
ready hearing, he will be more likely to see how much better 
and more respectable this method of procedure is than the 
method of deceit. The institution is educative at least for all 
the pupils who hold an office of honor. And since this can 
change quite a number may hold office in the course of the 
school period. They learn to understand what it means to 
bear responsibility for something for which in our day so few 
men show any inclination and disposition. They must see to 
it that their orders are obeyed and any one who has once ex- 
perienced the fact that it is by no means an easy task to issue 
orders will far more readily submit thereafter. And finally 
discipline which, for the great masses of mankind, was hitherto 
mere command and coercion from above, becomes a matter of 
spontaneous obedience, and the anticipation that rich blessings 
may flow from this source upon the whole after life is certainly 



Ethical and Social Problems 189 

justified. 

In Austrian institutions likewise two of these experiments have 
become known. Professor Prodinger organized a " School 
community " in Pola under peculiarly difficult circumstances. 
Since the pupils represented different nationalities (Italians, 
Germans, Slavs) he had first to solve the " nationality prob- 
lem." Prodinger succeeded in effecting a unified organization 
by a system of national representation on the pupil-committees, 
and in this way the " school community " got along all right 
like every place else. Prodinger likewise emphasizes in his re- 
port that the sense of honor and responsibility is elevated by 
self-government and moral training is thus advanced. We shall 
quote several passages from his reports which are characterized 
by peculiar impressiveness and thorough enthusiasm for the new 
method. " But if order is really the foundation principle of 
all life, then the external material life dare not alone furnish 
the basis of its laws, it must rather be subordinated to the spir- 
itual life of man, his spiritual nature, its ultimate issue again 
be under the guidance and determination of spirit, of ideas. 
And if man is really to maintain order and be able to force the 
enemies within his own bosom into subjection, he must be 
master of himself. But self-mastery requires strength of will, 
capable of vanquishing the enticements to evil. This will must 
be acquired, otherwise even the best doctrines remain but empty 
words. But here we are confronted by a remarkable phenom- 
enon. In our present school system there is absolutely no 
possibility of working towards this end. Every opportunity, 
where youth might strengthen their will and actually develop 
self-mastery, is taken away from them. Youth has no re- 
sponsibility. Are matters going crooked or straight, is there 
order or not, this does not concern them ; this belongs to the head 
of the institution and the corps of teachers; it is their business 
to see to it ; youth, under existing conditions, simply see to it that 
there is as much confusion as possible. Should our pupils act 
differently? Why? Whether order prevails or not, they 
haven't the least share in it; on the contrary it furnishes tliem 
rare fun to aggravate the gentlemen who conduct the investi- 
gation by cunningly contrived mischief. But matters would 
be quite different if the pupils were participants in the main- 
tenance of order, if they were co-responsible. Then they have 



I go Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

no reason any longer to stir up mischief, they must rather aspire 
towards the reaHzation of the greatest possible degree of peace." 

The pupils who are actually beguiled into inciting mischief by 
the absolutistic system are then required to reflect a little on 
the subject of order and to take a little more account of their 
sins of commission and omission than formerly. By the fact 
that they must themselves provide for order, either as director, 
or as ordinary school citizen, they get abundant opportunity to 
practice self-mastery and likewise to direct others to do so. 
If the directors or superintendents perform their proper service 
they naturally dare not participate in mischievous tricks, but 
govern and conduct themselves properly — even for the sake 
of their dignity — and the others who might still be disposed 
to various follies, do not wish to encumber the service of their 
comrades and therefore avoid many an act they would otherwise 
have done. Let no one object that pupils even at present 
have sufficient opportunity for self-m.astery in school ; they must 
sit quietly during school hours, they must get their lessons even if 
they are perha.ps eager for play or to take a walk, they dare not 
smoke, nor visit saloons, etc. Very well, but all this simply 
forces young people into passivity and completely suppresses 
their native impulse towards exercise, and it is just this that 
a rational system of education should take into account and 
wisely utilize youth's desire for exercise. Here, in the mainte- 
nance of order, youth is at once offered a vast field for its lust for 
activity; here plans must be worked out for the realization of 
prescribed requirements, to respect rights on every hand, con- 
ducting prescribed inspections, leading the erring to better con- 
duct, to counsel with the officer in charge concerning this and 
that feature of the administration and many more things of 
like character. Here the young man, who finds himself ap- 
pointed to a responsible position, learns to govern himself, he 
perceives that, in order to be somebody and hold his respect, he 
dare not permit himself to be plunged into ill-considered acts, 
that he must rather have himself under complete control. Just 
imagine a child under such training for a period of eight or 
twelve years — is it conceivable that this school of character 
will leave no impression on young people?" 

" We have hitherto not been accustom.ed to contemplate the 
problem of discipline from this angle; we have regarded the 



Ethical and Social Problems 191 

maintenance of discipline as a matter that concerns the teachers 
and about which the pupils need not bother themselves. But 
a genuine moral character can only unfold spontaneously, i.e., 
under conditions which simply exercises sufficient restraint to 
permit the completest possible development under every cir- 
cumstance. Inasmuch as the antiquated despotic school system 
however proceeds on the principle of suppressing all sponta- 
neity, and therefore prevents any genuine moral training, it must 
be set aside and supplanted by the best system thus far devised, 
the constitutional school community. I need not as a matter 
of course speak in detail of the more palpable matters, the ad- 
ditional advantages resulting from the pupils governing them- 
selves. They become more independent, more conscious of 
their dignity, acquire a finer sense of honor and justice, learn 
to associate with people, are obliged to acquire a courteous but 
definite conduct, accustom themselves to surveying the whole 
situation, are thus preser^^ed from narrow-minded pedantry, 
and inasmuch as they wish to train or guide themselves and 
others they must soon begin to reflect on the principles of peda- 
gogic method, to say nothing of other advantages of a more 
technical administrative nature. And the teaching profession 
saves time by this system, can save its energies more than 
formerly, gets into closer touch with the pupils, gains their 
confidence and love, and the school, previously a nerve-racking 
institution, becomes a place of happy and delightful occupation. 
If the teaching profession understands its advantages, they must 
inevitably want to introduce the school community." 

We have quoted the reports of educators in considerable de- 
tail in order that the reader might see that we are not discuss- 
ing speculative, theoretical principles, but concrete institutions 
which are practical and feasible. The system moreover seems 
to me to be capable of still further development. Self-govern- 
ment is by no means necessarily limited to matters of external 
discipline. Colin A. Scott, in his book previously cited, gives 
very instructive illustrations of the effectiveness of the spon- 
taneous cooperation of th^ pupils for scientific, technical and 
even aesthetic training. At any rate a method has here been 
discovered by which the social spirit can be cultivated in school 
in an entirely different way and far more intensively than was 
possible hitherto. The meaning of work, of order and punctu- 



192 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

ality, genuine, spontaneous obedience, and more especially the 
sense and clear conception of moral responsibility will develop 
quite differently if the strong native impulse towards exercise 
characteristic of youth is directed into the proper channels, 
and if it is possible to quicken the vital psychical energies of 
the pupils and enlist them in the service of society at large, 
which is finally furnished for youth at school in which it is being 
trained. 

Self-government is well adapted moreover, even if one only 
takes account of the experiments and results thus far published, 
to contribute to the solution of a higher pedagogic problem. 
The first and most evident effect of the new system consists 
in the fact that it inspires the pupils with the social spirit, 
breathes into their soul the sense of participation in the social 
whole and thus disciplines them to service, to spontaneous sub- 
ordination and responsibility. But at the same time with these 
things a sense of superior obligation, a consciousness of in- 
dividual dignity must develop in the pupils who are elected to the 
various offices which must inevitably contribute towards mak- 
ing these young people self-assured, ambitious, personalities who 
are practiced in self-command. By devoting themselves to a 
social function which has been entrusted to them and enthusi- 
astically assumed on their part, they become stronger mentally, 
spiritually more independent and gradually acquire possession 
of what the Stoic sages and what Schiller justly described as 
the highest good of man, the possession of inner freedom. But 
inner freedom is nothing else than the consciousness that man 
is not merely a means, but that he is likewise an end in him- 
self, and that for him there is no higher ambition than the pres- 
ervation and enhancement of his personal dignity. Self-gov- 
ernment is therefore the method by which to quicken not only 
the appreciation of personal obligation, but likewise the sense of 
personal dignity. These two moral requirements, which we 
have previously elaborated, are in fact not antitheses, but inti- 
mately related and mutually reciprocal. The sense of partici- 
pation in a social body and the requirements consequent there- 
upon create a point of concentration in every individual which 
becomes a new spiritual source of energy and combines the in- 
dividual ambitions and moods into a uniform whole. Per- 
sonality thus invigorated constantly makes higher demands of 



Ethical and Social Problems 193 

itself, expands X\\q circle of duties and elevates the moral level 
of mankind. Personal obligation and personal dignity are two 
distinct paths to one and the same goal, and this goal is nothing 
less than the constant broader and higher evolution of the hu- 
man race. 

The high school must not only show its pupils both these ways, 
but must likewise lead and accompany them for a considerable 
distance on both. In the foregoing we have tried to show that 
the school is capable of developing social sentiment, quicken- 
ing the consciousness of duty and possibly, by enlisting the 
active cooperation of the pupils, habituate them to spontaneous 
subordination and train them to responsibility. We shall now 
address ourselves to the higher and more difficult problem which 
consists in bringing to maturity in each incidivual pupil the 
thought that every human being is designed to preserve the 
dignity of the human race in his own person by developing his 
natural endowments to their highest powers, by constant self 
discipline, doing his best, elevating his ambitions and thus 
developing himself into a being which is a joy unto itself and a 
joy to others. 

4. The Cultivation of Personal Dignity 

Training to industry, orderliness and punctuality, to obedi- 
ence and responsibility, in short everything which we have 
treated under the watchword " social spirit," these are matters 
with which we older teachers have long been familiar. I 
presume therefore that even those of my colleagues who for 
the present have not yet been able to favor the introduction of 
the *' school community " and the system of pupils' self-govern- 
ment, will agree with what I have said on these points. On 
the other hand however the cultivation of individuality, the 
heightening of self-consciousness, discipline in criticism is 
something new. It is our educational reformers that have in- 
cluded these requirements in their program and I may there- 
fore hope that I shall here perhaps meet with fuller apprecia- 
tion among the younger members of the teaching profession. 
It is part of the present characteristic trend towards the culture 
of personality that individualization in education is increas- 
ingly demanded. Our present day youth is aware of this 



194 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

fact and is strongly influenced thereby. Children to-day no 
longer show the gratitude, are no longer so submissive as they 
were in the days of our childhood. They see full well that 
the parents turn everything to account in order to make their 
life more healthful, more pleasant and richer in content. Pres- 
ent day youth has come to regard itself as an end in itself and 
parents as a more or less useful means, whose purpose of exist- 
ence is to help the children to the realization of their indi- 
viduality. 

These dominating tendencies of youth in combination with 
other factors frequently produce a rare fruitage. According 
to my judgment they have led to an unhealthy over-stimulation 
of various kinds of sport and are especially prominent in mod- 
ern aestheticism. Here the artistic portrayal of all action and 
the aesthetic appreciation of the same is looked upon as the 
central feature of life, that all other problems are insignificant 
by comparison and the highest social requirements are felt to be 
an infringement on personal liberty, an unbearable vexation. I 
certainly set a high value on aesthetic training and have strongly 
advocated above that this source of happiness should be opened 
to our youth in liberal measure. But notwithstanding this 
modern aestheticism does not suit my taste. It seems to me to 
be characterized by a desire for striking effects which are pro- 
duced by hyper-stimulation of the nerves, it seems to me more 
like cheap originality than really profound artistic need. And 
it is for this reason that I regard it a pressing need that our 
present day youth be inspired with the social spirit so as to 
counteract the misconceived culture of personality which not 
infrequently degenerates into ego-culture. But notwithstand- 
ing this the individualistic tendencies just described may be 
employed with splendid pedagogic effect. If the modern youth 
brings an excess of self-consciousness aind self-sufficiency along 
to school, it by no means follows that we must suppress these 
impulses. We should rather urge these inner spiritual energies 
to provide themselves an appropriate sphere of activity and 
see to it that they do not shoot out into antisocial egoism or 
moody aestheticism, but give them the tendency which leads to 
the consciousness of personal dignity and its correlative obliga- 
tions. It is just as impossible here as in the previous section 
to elaborate the pedagogic effects in this sense with systematic 



Ethical and Social Problems 195 

adequacy. I must therefore here again confine myself to 
several important factors which are likewise feasible in prac- 
tical pedagogics. 

First of all every teacher can contribute to the cultivation of 
personal dignity in a number of apparently insignificant ex- 
ternalities in his conduct towards his pupils. If a man makes 
a practice of being friendly with his pupils individually and 
courteous with the class as a whole, if he never lets slip the call- 
ing of such zoological titles as ox, donkey, hog, rhinoceros, even 
in anger, if he furthermore gives the pupils opportunity, even 
quite early m their course, to express their own unrestrained 
opinion, and occasionally even asks them for a criticism of the 
teacher's expressed views, he has already done much towards 
the uplift of their personal dignity. I can cite several personal 
experiences in support of this. I have made it a practice in all 
my higher classes, when the pupils arose upon my entering the 
room, to invite them to take a seat with a courteous " please 
be seated." Always therefore, when I met the class for the 
first time I could read pleased astonishment on the countenances 
of the pupils. They had evidently not been accustomed to 
courteous treatment and felt flattered and elevated by the 
strange accent. My frequent requests for criticism were even 
far more effective. I still recall quite vividly how a member 
of a senior class which I had in psychology, called attention 
to the fact in his farewell address, that he owed me a spe- 
cial debt of gratitude for the privilege of expressing their 
opinions freely. We see therefore that young people have a 
keen sense of appreciation when the teacher reveals a certain 
degree of respect for the personality of each pupil in his whole 
attitude and demeanor towards them. Especially in the higher 
classes it is of great advantage to treat the pupils like gentlemen. 
Every teacher will find that these apparently insignificant ex- 
ternals pave the way for continuing to a more intensive and 
deeper cultivation of personal dignity. 

To this end, as a beginning, one of the most difficult and at 
the same time most important problems of the teacher furnishes 
opportunity. I refer to training in truthfulness. Foerster fur- 
nishes suggestions at once profound and concrete in his 
Jugendlehre, School and Character and especially in the book on 
Lebensfiihrung. He first emphatically verifies the fact, which 



196 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

is unfortunately incontestable, that the method of instruction 
and the administration of discipline in the public school betrays, 
and sometimes even compels, the pupils to utilize the whole 
of their inventive genius in contriving the most plausible lies. 
He then offers suggestions how a man can, by the serious dis- 
cussion of several concrete cases of student life, gradually bring 
the pupils to the point of utilizing their whole curiosity and 
genius, which they otherwise devote to contriving appropriate 
lies, in eliciting a mode of procedure in exceptionally difficult 
cases so as to tell the truth and at the same time avoid unpleash 
ant situations.^ Foerster further refers to the necessity of in- 
vestigating the various psychological causes of school lies and 
then urges strongly that one should try to train to absolute truth- 
fulness by an appeal to the sense of honor and the heroic in 
child nature, and to inculcate the principle in the Kantian sense 
that a lie is not permissible and guiltless under any conditions, 
under any circumstances. He calls the attention of his pupils 

1 The following conversation reported by Foerster {School and Char- 
acter) is of vital interest to all teachers: "The teacher sees a caricature 
on the board and asks one of the pupils : ' Who has drawn it ? ' The 
pupil knows who did it. Should he now say, * I do not know,' or 
should he expose the guilty party? Should he be loyal to his friends 
or obedient to his teacher? First of all an answer to the last ques- 
tion is considered. The result was interesting. The boys almost unan- 
imously agreed that one should deny having knowledge of the identity 
of the one who did it; the girls practically all agreed that obedience 
was the proper course. I then referred to the fact that both solutions in 
the first place were one-sided. One solution regards only the teacher, 
the other only the fellow pupils. Such a problem can only be regarded 
as really solved however when justice is done to both pajrties. If they 
were teachers they would at once understand that without obedience 
instruction is impossible. Is there no way of reconciling loyalty and 
obedience? A boy answered: 'If he should say to the teacher: he 
would tell on condition that the guilty party shall not be punished.' 
To this of course the reply had to be made that the teacher could not 
agree to such a conditional compromise. Finally the following method 
was proposed: *I request the privilege of withholding his name at 
present, but I will see to it that he will report and acknowledge it.' 
To my question; are you all agreed to this suggestion, came the 
unanimous and enthusiastic 'yes.' Is not such a deliberate understand- 
ing between a teacher and his class of the greatest importance both for 
its training to truthfulness and its creating an attitude of confidence 
in humanity? To assist to morality, to indicate the proper methods, 
or to permit the children to discover them is more important than 
preaching and teaching morals." 



Ethical and Social Problems 197 

to the lack of independence implied in the fact that one is 
guided in his actions by what others do or leave undone, and 
would thus set up the independence of the individual conscience 
as the ideal. The depth and rigor of these principles and the 
vivid, pedagogic, downright masterful carrjdng out of the same 
deserve the highest praise. I cannot however altogether agree 
with Foerster at this point. According to my view this implies 
an anti-social over-strain of the individualistic principle. And 
even in developing a love for the truth it may be shown how 
vitally the social and the individual factors are related in moral 
evolution, and that regard for the social whole is the stronger 
factor. I have both instituted theoretical investigations and 
collected abundant material of fact on the matter of truthfulness 
in ordinary life and in school, the results of which I will pre- 
sent in brief. 

In my Essay on Truth and Falsehood {Gedanken und Den- 
ker, 27—57) I have shown that the evaluation of truthfulness 
originates from two distinct sources. One of its motives is 
social in its nature and makes honesty a duty which society 
strictly insists upon. " In the case of warfare with enemies 
and when life is in danger the lie (particularly among primitive 
races) is looked upon as a permissible weapon and its skillful 
and effective use is even likely to inspire admiration. In the 
relationship existing between the members of the tribe as also 
within the family on the other hand the necessity of reciprocal 
integrity and loyalty is fundamentally essential. Experience 
teaches assuredly quite early that the weal and woe of the tribe 
or of the family vitally depend on the reliability of its mem- 
bers. The leader must be in position to believe the statements 
and pledges of his people. Hence the more highly developed 
the sense of solidarity so much the more highly is loyalty and 
truthfulness towards members of the tribe esteemed and de- 
manded, whilst disloyalty and treason is the more severely disap- 
proved and punished." As social life and social intercourse 
therefore become ever more complex in the course of the prog- 
ress of civilization and constantly assume new forms, the social 
obligation of truthfulness likewise undergoes various modifica- 
tions. It can easily happen that the Individual must withhold a 
fact in the interest of the community. In fact the situation may 
even arise in which from regard for the welfare of the commu- 



198 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

nity or from sympathy and kindness we feel obliged to deliber- 
ately falsify. There are many and widely different social duties 
which sometimes come into conflict. Truthfulness is one of 
these duties, but by no means the first nor the only one. In 
war and diplomacy, at the sick bed and in penal investigations 
the sacrifice of the lie is frequently imperatively required. 
Plato, who severely criticises the dishonesty of the Homeric 
Zeus, nevertheless concedes without argument that in his ideal 
state official falsehoods are indispensable for the welfare of the 
whole. But the fact that the lie is always felt to be a sacrifice, 
the fact that a moral taint likewise attaches to the perversion 
of the truth sometimes required by social ethics, the fact that 
we experience every deliberate falsehood as a degradation of our 
personality, is due to the other of the two motives from which, 
as previously observed, the appreciation of truthfulness springs. 
In addition to the social requirement of loyalty and of keeping 
faith there is a second mighty factor at work in us, which makes 
truthfulness a necessity of our nature, the lie an object of 
disgust. This second motive is individualistic in its nature 
and issues from the depths of the spontaneously evolved and 
invigorated personality. 

Free personality deeply feels the need of unfolding itself, 
exercising itself, expressing itself. One should be permitted to 
say what he thinks and feels, and he should have the courage 
to say it even against tradition and ancestry. Strong individu- 
alties have always felt this need and regarded the lie a degrada- 
tion of personality, a violation against human dignity. Ab- 
horred like the gates of Hades is even the strong and upright 
Achilles, the man who thinks one thing in his heart and speaks 
another with his lips (Hom. Iliad, IX, 312). And this at- 
tribute is so strongly blended with the character of Achilles 
that m the portrayal of later poets it is transmitted to his son 
Neoptolemus, who proclaims the same characteristic so man- 
fully in the Philoctetus of Sophocles. Herbert Spencer has 
quite correctly called attention to the fact that even among na- 
ture peoples, who live in freedom, truthfulness is relatively very 
general, and history reveals the fact that the struggle for liberty 
which the individual is waging against tutelage and servility is 
forever associated with abhorrence of falsehood. George Ellin- 
ger has shown in his excellent study of the relation of public 



Ethical and Social Problems 199 

opinion to truth and falsehood during the tenth, eleventh and 
twelfth centuries, that at the beginning of the thirteenth century 
a much freer spirit manifests itself and that contemporaneously 
truthfulness is on the increase and falsehood an object of intense 
disapprobation. Luther, a man moreover of uncommonly strong 
personality, concludes that there is no more shameful vice on 
earth than to be guilty of falsehood and disloyalty, and rejoices 
that the Germans, in contrast with the Greeks and " Welsh," 
still show a slight sense of resentment and shame when someone 
calls them a liar. At the same period Hans Sachs complains 
that " no one has any confidence in the veracity of woman." 
And this intimate relation between the individual's struggle for 
liberty and the esteem of truthfulness appears still more clearly 
in Germany during the eighteenth century. Self-liberating per- 
sonality waved its winnowing fan with mighty power and in 
the storm and stress produced the ripest fruit of German poetry. 
" Wealthy in the treasures his own bosom had long concealed," 
man, breaking away from convention and tradition, wished to 
multiply these treasures in rich abundance and to enjoy them. 
To strive for a clearer, a more vivid expression of the profound 
surgings of the soul, not to suppress a single natural impulse, 
this is what was increasingly insisted on and practiced. This 
is the spirit that gave birth to the Iphigenia which produced 
everything through her noble self and hence could not condone 
falsehood, could not place it above self. From this point of 
view we likewise understand the unqualified condemnation of 
falsehood by Kant and Fichte. The fact that Kant only reck- 
ons individualistic motives is evident in that in his theory of 
morals he conceives falsehood exclusively as a violation of 
man's duty towards himself. And besides, he expressly says 
the damage resulting from falsehood to the subject himself 
or to others has no bearing whatever on moral judgment. 
" Falsehood consists in the rejection and likewise the destruc- 
tion of one's personal worth." Kant moreover undertook su- 
perfluously to prove in another brief essay that no one has any 
right to falsify for love of humanity. 

Truthfulness is therefore social obligation on the one hand, 
but on the other it becomes a necessity to stronger natures and 
gradually develops into a requirement of personal worth. 
There is no doubt about the fact that this twofold nature of 



200 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

honesty frequently gives rise to' serious conflicts in practical life. 
But it is likewise certain that there is no profound or irrecon- 
cilable antithesis between these two motives. In this case the 
synthesis of personal duty and personal dignity may frequently 
be eifected even in the practical experience of the school. It 
must therefore be our duty, to implant both motives in the 
minds of the pupils, if possible, permit them to experience both 
requirements in the school, and suggest a method for their 
reconciliation. 

Let us try to show by a concrete case how this psychological 
and historical analysis may be applied in practical pedagogy. 
In a class over which I am presiding some mischief has been 
done, let us say a window has been broken during recess. It 
is my duty to discover the guilty party. I may — as is unfor- 
tunately frequently done — as an apt detective proceed after 
the manner of a policeman, get into touch with several '' trust- 
worthy " pupils and induce them to tell me who the culprit is. 
I have thus established the objective fact and perhaps even won 
the title of an expert detective. But I have not only con- 
tributed nothing to the development of character, but in this 
respect rather the opposite. I have helped to mature the spirit 
of rivalry and sowed enmity among the pupils. I need not be 
surprised to find within a few days that my informants have 
been thoroughly thrashed by their fellow-pupils. Then I have 
another opportunity to prove my police talent still more bril- 
liantly. 

But I may likewise proceed quite differently. I may simply 
ask the class who has broken the window and add that I 
definitely expect the man who did it to report. If I have care- 
fully cultivated the spirit of honesty previously, the pupils in- 
volved will immediately come forward. That it is possible to 
do this I am in position to testify on the basis of many experi- 
ences as class supervisor in the many years of my teaching ac- 
tivity. But cases will also naturally occur that no one will 
respond to my inquiry. I would then call attention to the fact 
that the guilty party is not only under obligation to me, 
but likevv^ise to his fellow-pupils, to report. If he refuses, then 
the whole class must make good the damage; he thus permits 
his fellow pupils to share his penalty, which is certainly not 
specially honorable. But if the class is dominated by a strong 



Ethical and Social Problems 20i 

esprit de corps no one will report. I then penalize the class 
and require them to make good the damages in common. In- 
asmuch as the apportioned cost to each individual pupil is but 
slight they readily accept it and the matter is settled. And we 
openly grant that in this procedure there has nothing been ac- 
complished towards character development and towards train- 
ing in honesty. The pupils stand as a compact mass in oppo- 
sition to their teachers, rejoice in the fact that he failed to 
accomplish anything, take pride in their solidarity and resolve 
upon a similar course next time. 

But in case a man succeeds in getting the pupil to report he 
has a most favorable opportunity of impressing the value of 
honesty on their minds concretely. The pupil has thus dis- 
charged his social obligation to his comrades and must at the 
same time feel that he has eleva.ted his personal worth. He 
has courageously accepted the consequences of his own action, 
has not depended on the sympathy of his colleagues like a 
coward, and submitted himself to the disposal of the teacher 
not indeed as one subdued by force, but of his own spontaneous 
initiative. It likewise furnishes an opportunity to call attention 
to the relation existing between honesty and the sense of honor 
as well as the courage involved in voluntary confession. 

But practical pedagogics likewise furnishes other frequent 
opportunity — besides cases of discipline — for the exercise of 
such influence. Let us assume, e. g., that I have explained a 
somewhat difficult portion of grammar — conditional sentences 
in Greek, for example — a difficult proposition in geometr}^, a 
complicated psychological analysis, a rather difficult sentence in 
a foreign language, before the class as a whole and I am not 
quite satisfied that they have all been able to follow, and I ask 
for example, " Is there anyone who does not fully understand 
it? " Frequently no one will say anything, perhaps because they 
hesitate to acknowledge their dullness of comprehension, or be- 
cause they are not sufficiently clear about the matter to be aware 
of their lack of understanding it. I call on one of the weaker 
pupils and convince him and myself that he does not yet fully 
understand the matter. I ask him very kindly to explain why 
he failed to say so in response to my request. In this connection 
I cite my beloved Socrates who regarded it an indication of 
superior wisdom for anyone to know that he knows nothing, 



202 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

and show him that it is by no means a sign of lack of intelli- 
gence to be aware that certain matters are still obscure. And 
in addition I call attention to the fact that by his spontaneous 
rising he would no doubt have helped a number of his fellow- 
pupils who likewise failed to understand the matter, but were 
too embarrassed to acknowledge it. Even here honesty mani- 
fests its twofold function. It liberates the individual from a 
certain sense of pressure which he feels, with the effect that 
should not appear to be intellectually more than he really is, 
and at the same time helps others who are in the same position. 
If we adopt this mode of procedure and utilize every oppor- 
tunity to let the pupils feel the twofold effect of honesty we 
will eventually succeed, if not in entirely banishing, at least 
in very materially reducing the spirit of falsehood which our 
present school system is unfortunately so likely to foster. One 
may even accomplish a great deal with habitual falsifiers, as my 
own experience testifies, by private conversation and in the 
presence of the class, if he moreover exercises the indispensable 
quality of patience and love. 

The example of the teacher can likewise accomplish much at 
this point. If he always practices absolute honesty, sticks close 
to the facts in his treatment of a disciplinary offence and makes 
no effort at coloring for effect, if he invariably frankly admits 
that he does not know and makes no effort to extricate himself 
with subterfuge and platitudinous declarations, if he frankly 
acknowledges an error or an injustice and rectifies the matter 
publicly. The pupils will then see that he is actually serious in 
his insistence on honesty and they are ashamed to lie to such a 
man. 

Although my experience teaches that not a little can be ac- 
complished towards discipline in honesty even under the despotic 
school regime as it is still generally constituted, I must neverthe- 
less say that the " school community " and " self-government " 
can accomplish vastly more in this respect. Here the dishonest 
pupil who wishes to deceive his teacher cannot count on the 
support of his comrades in the contest against a common enemy. 
Here he is confronted by the increasingly refined public senti- 
ment of his class, which affects him powerfully. He then feels 
the social value and the liberating power of truth far more in- 
tensively. The deepest energies of his soul are uncovered and 



Ethical and Social Problems 203 

everything impels him in the direction of honesty. The pupil 
now feels himself impelled and urged from within to do that 
for which the teacher could only gradually prepare the way even 
in the face of tremendous opposition. Self-government, which 
trains for liberty and responsibility is likewise even on this ac- 
count well adapted to quicken the sense of veracity and to 
permit the pupils to feel its twofold value quite frequently and 
intensively. 

Another no less important activity of personal worth is in- 
volved in self-control. This virtue has received the highest 
praise of educators of all ages. The Spartan education trained 
the boys to endure the severest pains with terrible rigor, and 
Christian pedagogy not only regarded self-vanquishment the 
proof of spiritual power, but even the condition of future salva- 
tion and accordingly not only recommended the cultivation of 
this virtue most enthusiastically, but even practiced it most ef- 
fectively. There is no doubt about the fact that discipline in 
self-control is an exceedingly important task of the teacher. As 
proof of subjective energy self-control is indeed an uplift of 
personal dignity. And furthermore the man who has his pri- 
mary functions in his own power, who commands his body, 
endures hunger and thirst, is capable of governing his violent 
passion, is a far more useful member of human society than one 
who is accustomed to follow every momentary impulse. 

Self-control is therefore likewise a synthesis of both factors 
governing moral evolution and must therefore be cultivated and 
exercised in this double aspect. Foerster likewise offers valu- 
able principles and practical suggestions on this point {School 
and Character) from which every teacher can gain much of 
value in practical pedagogy. His suggestions are specially valu- 
able where he shows how daily events in the life of the school, 
such as tardiness, laughing and talking on the part of the 
pupils may be made the subject of interesting discussions based 
on the direct experiences of the children. He shows ex- 
quisitely how to proceed in order to let self-control appear as 
the effect of subjective energy, how one may appeal to the sense 
of honor, to the heroic in child nature, and I am convinced 
that much can be accomplished with the pupils by following his 
suggestions. 

Notwithstanding this, however, I disagree with Foerster in 



204 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

an important point touching the theory of the pedagogic signif- 
icance of self-control and self-vanquishment. He inclines 
strongly towards regarding self-vanquishment not merely as an 
exercise of subjective energy, but as something meritorious in 
itself. But from my viewpoint of social ethics I cannot con- 
cede this. I find that the hearty devotion of the individual to 
the purposes of the welfare of the community, which concen- 
trate his total effort, without any subjective reserve, on a self- 
chosen high ideal is socially more effective and stands therefore 
on a higher ethical plane (Cf. My Introduction to Philosophy, 
Eng. Trans., p. 267). Whenever there is a serious struggle 
against strong temptation, the ultimate victory is invariably 
doubtful. It were no doubt better for social welfare and for 
personal happiness if people were spared such profound battles. 
This is my reason for saying previously (p. 68f) that we are 
not so much in need of restraining equipment as of invigoration, 
enlargement and control of volition. The more intensely and 
the more unambiguously the social motives operate, so much 
the more certainly do they determine the direction of volition 
and so much the more pleasurable is the exercise of the will. 
But we must not forget that we are still far removed from such 
an ideal state of society as will make this kind of volitional 
training possible. Man is at present confronted with difficult 
problems and the educator is under obligation to prepare the 
youth for these life problems and arouse the powers which he 
will need in meeting them. We must therefore strengthen 
the spiritual side of their nature and this will require intensive 
practice in self-control for a long time to come. In order to 
make clear just what this involves I shall have to present a 
brief psychological analysis. 

The ego is conceived as the vehicle of our centralized organi- 
zation. This central dynamic which pervades all psychical 
processes and makes them what they really are undergoes an 
exceedingly complicated process of enrichment and differentia- 
tion of functions. The ego which we bring with us into the 
world and which functions almost exclusively during infancy, 
Theodore Meynert has quite pertinently called the primary ego. 
The primary ego is regarded as the center of energy whence 
all movements proceed which tend to satisfy the original im- 
pulses and desires. The primary ego makes provision for the 



Ethical and Social Problems 205 

satisfaction of hunger, the warding off of dangerous attacks 
and thus preserves and protects our body. Our ego-conscious- 
ness then experiences a most extraordinary enlargement by 
means of our ideas of memory and imagination, by means of 
intellect, emotion and desire. All that we have seen and felt, 
all the plans we have elaborated, the ideals which we follow, 
our family, our native land and its history, every one of these 
in a certain sense gradually becomes an element of our ego. 
Meynert has coined the term *' secondary ego " for this en- 
larged ego-consciousness. The secondary ego likewise becomes 
a kind of center of energy and defends its possessions against 
harmful attacks. In this defence it may easily happen that 
the secondary ego gets into conflict with the primary ego, and 
it has not infrequently happened that the primary ego is lost 
in this battle. We are ready to lay down our lives for the 
sake of our honor, for the sake of our country. Even the 
scientific impulse has sometimes been stronger than the primary 
impulse of self-preservation. And the cases in which religious 
faith has been stronger than the love of life have been quite 
numerous. 

Among children the primary ego has all but complete con- 
trol, which explains the natural egoism of childhood which so 
often charms us by its naivete. But life does not permit this 
frank and apparently so estimable a care for the primary ego 
to constitute the abiding habit of the mind. The child must 
become an adult and enlarge its primary to a secondary ego 
on this account. If we should characterize the actual process 
of the educator's work m terms of pure psychology, we should 
have to say: The educator is occupied creatively with the 
secondary ego of his pupils. 

If we therefore raise the question, on the basis of this psycho- 
logical analysis, what constitutes self-control, we are now in 
position to reply that it is simply a matter of strengthening the 
secondary ego and preparing for its control of the primary. 
As we become accustomed to propose higher, farther-reaching 
spiritual ambitions to ourselves and suppress hunger, thirst, 
the clamor of the passing mood, in its attainment, we are like- 
wise exercising self-control in that we are enriching our second- 
ary ego. But if this suppression is forcefully imposed on the 
pupils by requiring them to sit quietly at school and to work 



2o6 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

for hours on assigned tasks at home, the care of the secondary- 
ego may easily lead to a stunting of the primary with serious 
physical consequences, as is only too frequently the case in the 
practical life of the school. The primary ego moreover is and 
must remain the basis of the ego-consciousness throughout life, 
for the simple reason that the bodily functions are the sources 
of energy for the spiritual functions. 

Self-control must therefore not be practiced as if the sup- 
pression of physical demands were a desirable achievement in 
itself. The secondary ego must rather make careful provision 
for the primary, but constantly keep in mind that the physical 
powers are to be made to serve higher ends. The mind must 
not destroy the body, but help to build it up in order that it 
may have a vigorous and reliable servant. Herbert Spencer 
has forcefully emphasized this duty towards one's own health 
in his volume on Education. Self-control is therefore not so 
much the suppression as the government of the primary energies 
and impulses. And then it is identical with what the Stoic 
Sage, Epicurus, Kant and Schiller called subjective freedom. 

As a matter of fact the practice of self-control is nothing 
else than discipline in subjective freedom. It is not altogether 
a simple task to grasp the essential nature of this psychical 
state. It is the sense of assurance, reference to the chosen am- 
bition and the methods of its realization. Subjective freedom 
consists of vital and intense concentration of the deepest psychi- 
cal energies, which then pervade and vitalize all psj^chical ex- 
perience. The philosopher, who has with his own powers 
worked out an adequate theory of the universe and of life and 
with calm assurance forms his judgments and adopts his meas- 
ures in all the vicissitudes of existence from this vantage 
ground, possesses the highest degree of freedom. So likewise 
the believing soul who feels himself a child of God and knows 
that he is under the care of the almighty and all-merciful 
Father, possesses subjective freedom. And the most ordinary 
man likewise achieves subjective freedom if he devotes himself 
to a self-chosen social problem and dedicates his services to this 
cause. It is likewise possible therefore to implant the germs 
in the youthful souls, entrusted to our training, which will 
gradually develop, the tree of subjective freedom. 

In the case of youth, the pathway to subjective freedom leads 



Ethical and Social Problems 207 

through industry, the discharge of duty and spontaneous obedi- 
ence. If we succeed in giving the native impulse towards 
exercise in young people a definite tendency and to form an 
ideal conformable with and adequate to their powers, the youth- 
ful soul will soon acquire the necessary strength to conquer 
transitory moods and passions. Yes, even better still! The 
temptations and desires aroused in the environment of the pupils 
by all manner of exciting stimuli gradually lose much of their 
enticing power and eventually even scarcely attract attention. 
Just as in the case of the experienced mountain-climber to whom 
the difficulties originally so apparently insuperable no longer 
appear as such, but rather as furnishing welcome opportunities 
for the exercise of his power and skill, so likewise the influence 
of work and duty of this kind so strengthens the youthful soul 
that he scarcely notes the temptations with which he meets and 
easily conquers them. 

Exercises assigned for the express purpose of developing self- 
control, are of course bound to advance this invigoration of the 
soul, but in my judgment they do not constitute the matter of 
chief importance. The skillful teacher will of course not 
permit any opportunity in this direction which casually presents 
itself to pass unimproved and he will find valuable suggestions 
on this point in Foerster. But the most important matter is 
this, namely, that the whole conduct of the school be so ar- 
ranged as to excite and discipline the individual centers of the 
spiritual energy of the pupils. And the school community and 
self-government is likewise better adapted to this end than our 
despotic system. But there is still another method which leads 
to subjective freedom the effects of which in this direction are 
far less recognized and scarcely pursued at all. Above all 
others, our great poet, Friedrich Schiller, has called attention to 
this method. 

The profound meaning of his letters on aesthetic education 
and the poem, Ideal und Leben, is simply this, that we are 
capable of refining ourselves to real subjective freedom not only 
by work and duty, but likewise by pure, unselfish, pleasure, the 
joy inspired by the contemplation of art and the beauty of na- 
ture. Even in antiquity Aristippus, and more particularly 
Epicurus, recognized this effect of joy. But it was left for 
Schiller to make the idea practically effective by his thorough 



2o8 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

philosophical analysis and at the same time incorporate it in his 
poetry. From this viewpoint aesthetic training, to the im- 
portance of which we have made repeated reference, acquires 
an entirely different significance. If we help our pupils to 
comprehend the great poets of all the ages, if we assist them 
to find joy in these productions, we do not thereby merely fur- 
nish them a transitory satisfaction; no, we at the same time 
contribute to their higher moral discipline. If they should 
more frequently have the opportunity of soaring to those realms 
where pure forms abide, if they should gradually get an im- 
pression of the fact that art elevates to a higher sphere of being, 
that we are purer and better men while under its spell, they 
would then later in life more frequently seek the opportunity of 
drinking at this everlasting fountain of youth and thus 
strengthen and purify the soul. They should gradually learn 
to understand and feel the meaning of Schiller's description of 
perfect art: 

Alle Zweifel, alle Kampfe schweigen 
In des Sieges hoher Sicherheit: 
Ausgestossen hat es jeden Zeugen 
Menschlicher Bediirftigkeit. 

The classical philologist who is completely saturated with 
this sublime and profound effect of aesthetic education will be 
slow to regard Homer as nothing more than a collection of 
hexameters, ionic forms and allegories and the tragedies of 
Sophocles simply as trimeters, dactyls, dochmiac or doric verse. 
He will far rather devote his best thought to enabling the pu- 
pils to perceive the profound spiritual apprehension and the 
perfect art of the ancients and in showing them that these crea- 
tions of Greek genius still live in the undiminished vigor of 
youth. 

If we thus educate our pupils aesthetically in Schiller's spirit 
we will likewise protect them against the individualistic excess 
of the " artistic " sense so prevalent in modern aestheticism. 
The modern virtuoso as a matter of fact hasn't any real joy in 
art. He simply pokes his aesthetic proboscis into every nook 
and corner, sniffs the air and smells about to see Vv^hether he 
can discover anything anywhere which might furnish him 
occasion to take offence in his hyper-sensitiveness. In the ar- 



Ethical and Social Problems 209 

rangements of the home which he has occasion to examine he 
discovers for example that the table-cover doesn't harmonize 
with the furniture, observes that this painting is poorly hung 
and that the door is painted too dark. At an art exhibition he 
feels bored and lonely because there is too much of the " or- 
dinary," too little of the bizarre and cheap originality. At the 
theater the somewhat too deep voice of a playwright may 
destroy his enjoyment of the most stirring tragedy, and a single 
false note robs him of his joy in the " Master-singers." If he 
knew how to estimate himself correctly, he would be forced 
to say: 

Von Freud' ist nicht die Rede, 
Dem Taurael weih' ich mich, dem schmerzlichsten Genuss. 

The true lover of art on tlie other hand — and it is to such 
we should train our pupils — listens eagerly to the tune of a 
Beethoven symphony, even if the orchestra fails to meet the 
highest requirements, is profoundly stirred by Othello even if 
Desdemona's voice is keyed a little high and lago doesn't play 
the devil effectively. At an exhibition he seeks out the paint- 
ings that please him and has no need of showing off his superi- 
ority by criticising the less successful. The genuine joy in the 
beautiful is never over-pretentious. Anyone who has cultivated 
and developed this joy in his own soul, as I am accustomed to 
put it in my ^Esthetics {Introduction to Philosophy^ Eng. 
Trans., p. 231 f.), is receptive of the "tender wooing" con- 
tained in every great work of art. Inasmuch as he hears this 
wooing his enraptured emotion is reflected back on the artistic 
forms and clothes them with a new, spiritual and vital beauty 
which at once thrills with joy and elevates. 

Leading our pupils to subjective freedom not alone by the 
ordinary method of industry and duty, but likewise by the 
method of pure and refined joy is an exceedingly profitable 
occupation. The pedagogic value of joy, as I have previously 
indicated is thus essentially enhanced. The subjective freedom 
laboriously acquired by means of industry and duty is thus 
surcharged with an inner warmth and at the same time becomes 
a never failing fountain of happiness. 

There is another function of personal dignity closely related 
with the cultivation of honesty and education to self-control 



2IO Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

and subjective freedom which is exceedingly important for prac- 
tical pedagogics. I refer to the gradual development of the 
sense of honor among the pupils. " It is right among young 
people," says Foerster, " that the sense of honor is likewise the 
foundation of all moral cleanliness and a teacher who treats 
the pupil's sense of honor indifferently becomes directly co- 
responsible for their moral degeneration." Here I can again 
fully agree with this profound pedagogue and support his as- 
sertion with numerous personal experiences. The thing that 
Foerster means by sense of honor is indeed the claim on social 
respect. The demand for this is rather strongly developed, 
particularly in the higher classes and by taking account of this 
demand and directing it into the proper channels we can con- 
siderably simplify the administration of school discipline and at 
the same time contribute to the cultivation of personal dignity. 
Let me supplement this with a personal experience. On a 
certain occasion at the beginning of the school year the Di- 
rector requested me to assume the office of principal in the 
highest class as substitute for a colleague who was ill. This 
colleague had the reputation of maintaining excellent discipline, 
and also as governing by fear and rigor. Since my method of 
handling the pupils of the higher classes was entirely different, 
I feared that the pupils might soon degenerate under my much 
milder system. I accordingly stated, at my first meeting with 
the class, that I meant to treat the pupils, who in fact would 
leave school within a year, even now as free personalities, as 
gentlemen, and would expect their cooperation. The experi- 
ment was a complete success. We finished the year — with 
quite negligible exceptions — without any penal discipline and 
the colleagues were very well satisfied with the conduct of the 
class. 

This, however, comes far short of adequate cultivation of the 
sense of honor. It is by no means sufficient that one should 
not violate — I might call it — the social sense of honor of 
the pupils. We should rather try to cultivate intensively and 
effect the development of personal sense of honor, what the 
English call self-respect, the French amour propre. And I am 
not thinking at all of the ambition or effort for external dis- 
tinctions. This pedagogic principle, which was so prevalent 
in antiquity and still prevails in France, has been almost entirely 



Ethical and Social Problems 21 1 

banished from the schools of Germany and Austria. I rather 
mean that inner sense of honor that might also be described as 
a superior sense of duty. It is this cultivation of personal con- 
science that impels us to do our best, to set higher ideals and 
to work with all our might for the realization of our self- 
appointed tasks. The unrivalled example of this ideal, as 
previously observed, is Socrates. 

The school cultivates this deep-lying energy of the soul by 
requiring more from the more talented pupil, by showing him 
that his achievement is insufficient because he is capable of 
greater things. But we are likewise contributing to the same 
result when we encourage the weaker pupils who give evidence 
of serious effort and express our satisfaction to them. And 
this whole matter of personal sense of honor may likewise as- 
sume a social aspect by requiring the more talented pupils to 
explain what they have learned, what they have thoroughly 
grasped, as clearly as possible, in order that the others may hear 
it again and thus understand it more readily. 

And here again self-government offers more advantages than 
the despotic system. According to the unanimous consensus of 
the reports of educators it is precisely the officers and guardians 
chosen by the class who set their honor, not merely on the 
conscientious administration of their office, but devote their 
whole mental and moral power to devise new methods which 
will lead more easily and more certainly to the goal. Such 
impulses, issuing from the very inmost nature of the pupils 
themselves is naturally more effective and abiding than the com- 
mands and suggestions of the teacher. 

According to the preceding discussions therefore our ethical 
problem consists in seeking to develop the social spirit in our 
pupils and at the same time quickening and cultivating the 
sense of personal dignity. These two aims frequently com- 
bine into one. Their common object is to educate the pupils 
to socially useful and individually independent characters. The 
whole pedagogic program should be inspired with this spirit. 
Every teacher who has clearly grasped this fact and is thor- 
oughly saturated with the significance of the viewpoint of social 
ethics in education will find abundant opportunities in his own 
subject to exercise this influence upon the souls entrusted to his 
care. But above all else we must never forget in the adminis- 



212 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

tration of school discipline, that we are not self-sufficient tyrants, 
not chiefly severe taskmasters and lords, but preeminently edu- 
cators and the affectionate friends of our pupils. Since the 
preceding discussions have chiefly referred to discipline it re- 
mains to return once more to this important topic and briefly 
explain the practical application of the principles set forth. 

5. Discipline, Instruction in Morals 

We have previously discussed school discipline, but only from 
the viewpoint of the methods which aim to secure the quiet 
and orderly conduct of instruction and preserving order in gen- 
eral. In this more objective sense we proposed the principle 
that prevention is better than punishment and illustrated it by 
practical examples, as an important maxim for the administra- 
tion of school discipline. It will now appear that this principle 
has a deeper significance and that it likewise applies to the pres- 
ent problem of the educative task of school discipline. Forester, 
whose entire volume^ Schule und Charakter, is devoted to the 
problem of discipline, says that the fundamental error of our 
whole discipline lies " in the lack of the preventive care of souls." 
He therefore makes use of the same idea as we, but gives it a 
far deeper meaning. Here the preventive care of souls does 
not mean, as it does with us in our previous reference, the re- 
moval of temptations, a prudent avoidance of occasions. Here 
" prevention " consists in inspiring in the pupil's will a positive 
content, to give it its direction and thus assist our pupils sub- 
jectively to acquire the power of resisting temptations. 

School discipline therefore does not merely require the abate- 
ment of disturbing factors. It should rather be administered in 
such a manner as will contribute to character development in 
a positive sense. If it is to accomplish this it must be, to adopt 
Foerster's splendid expression, not doing police duty, but exer- 
cising pastoral care. Each separate case of discipline must be 
made an occasion for clarifying the ideas and judgments of the 
pupils. They must be given the opportunity of expressing their 
opinion, in order that the teacher may be in position, not merely 
to admonish and penalize, but to create new motives. 

The preceding discussions contain a sufficient number of ex- 
amples of such personal influences. In this connection I would 



Ethical and Social Problems 213 

particularly emphasize that the young fellow who has done 
something, should not be regarded as nothing but a mischief- 
maker, an enfant terrible, an enemy of peace and order. We 
should above all else keep in mind that it is an immature soul 
still in process of development, which, like all growing things, 
appreciates affectionate assistance. We must endeavor to an- 
alyze this child-soul as deeply as possible. We may perhaps 
find that the same impulse which led to mischief, deviltry, on 
this occasion can be transformed into a power for good. Disci- 
pline should, as Foerster again very effectively observes, aim to 
" help the child to morality, and not to render his correct con- 
duct as difficult as possible." We teachers must get this fact 
clear in our minds, namely, that school life and comradeship 
does not by any means develop character automatically. We 
dare not close our eyes to the fact that this group life and 
group work is likewise fraught with serious dangers to moral 
development. Let us not be deceived as to the effect of ad- 
monitions and punishments. It is necessary to fix our attention 
on the concrete reality, the vital interests of the child and ap- 
proach it from the viewpoint of its germinal principle. We 
have repeatedly spoken of the tremendous influence which the 
general sentiment of the class has upon the individual pupil. 
This influence is therefore frequently quite harmful unless we 
are constantly concerned to direct this general sentiment into 
the proper channels. The discussion of cases of discipline can 
be effectively utilized to this end. 

Every teacher can certainly hold such discussions with the 
class occasionally. But the chief portion of this work will 
naturally fall to the division principal. The principal will soon 
find that such matters consume much time and that he falls 
behind in his subject. But this misfortune can easily be dis- 
posed of by setting apart several periods for such discussions. 
The penal periods during afternoons in which there is no school, 
which has considerable vogue in Germany, our own practice of 
keeping pupils in after divine services on Sunday, would have 
an entirely different disciplinary value if used for discussions 
rather than punishment. And m my judgment this would be 
the most effective teaching of ethics, because it naturally deals 
with concrete, personal facts of experience. 

I take this opportunity of making several observations con- 



214 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

cerning the teaching of ethics, introduced by a number of states 
and desired by many others. 

In various nations, especially in North America and in France 
a separate course of instruction in morals has been given for 
more than twenty years in public and private schools, which 
is mostly offered as a substitute for courses in religion. A 
number of text books have already been produced for this pur- 
pose and this method of moral training has many enthusiastic 
advocates. Personally I have had no opportunity hitherto to 
give such instruction and unfortunately never even visited any 
such class. Prof. Felix Adler of New York, the spiritual 
father of the " ethical movement " which arose during the 
eighties of last century in America, and even extended to Ger- 
many and Austria, has for a number of years been the head of 
a school organized according to the principles of " ethical cul- 
ture." From the reports concerning the course of study and 
the methods pursued, which Prof. Adler was kind enough to fur- 
nish me upon the occasion of his visit to Vienna several years 
since, I gained the impression that his school does actually 
develop moral character. But we must not forget that in this 
case the circumstances are peculiarly favorable. Prof. Adler 
decides absolutely on the course of study, on the admission of 
pupils and likewise chooses his own corps of teachers. His 
whole school is organized from this single viewpoint. There 
is no prescribed amount of work to be completed, no awe- 
inspiring final examination, there is no need of fitting a sepa- 
rate course in ethics into an otherwise fixed curriculum, but the 
course itself as well as the discipline as a whole, all together 
serve this single purpose. It is Impossible to base a judgment 
on the value of a course in ethics on such exceptional cases, the 
existence of which Is Indeed a matter for gratification. In 
France the result of moral instruction, which is there given 
universally, depends entirely on the personality of the teacher. 
From the reports which I have received I can simply gather 
that in some cases there Is a lively participation of the pupils 
manifest, and in others a tedious monotony. 

If I were therefore to express my judgment from the stand- 
point of science and general pedagogic experience, I should first 
of all emphasize the fact that reflection on moral problems is 
without doubt an important condition for the development of 



Ethical and Social Problems 215 

moral character. Insight into the nature of personal duty and 
personal dignity is — a fact that Socrates attested and proved 
once for all — an indispensable means to moral self-discipline. 
But in the first place this insight cannot be acquired until in 
maturer years and, in the second place it is ethically effective 
only as it has been preceded by an intensive training of the will 
and years of practical moral conduct. It seems to me there- 
fore entirely consistent and necessary that the pupils of the 
advanced classes be given an opportunity to acquire a clear un- 
derstanding of the principles of moral conduct. But in my 
judgment this does not necessitate a separate course of moral 
instruction. There are a number of subjects in our courses of 
study where this can be done without straining a point. The 
practical educator likewise raises the following objections against 
the introduction of separate courses in morals. Let us suppose 
this new subject incorporated in our course of study for the 
advanced classes under the name of' ethics, and two periods a 
week assigned to it. The pupil who makes a habit of studying 
the hour schedule for the following day, observes to one of his 
comrades: "What do we have to-morrow?" "Latin, 
Greek, Mathematics and Ethics." By the very fact that it is 
placed on a level with other subjects of instruction, ethics 
already loses its indispensably unique character. They are 
either required to learn something for these periods, in which 
case it signifies an additional unpleasant burden, or they are not 
required to learn anything for it and then it is slightingly 
treated as of little value. This fact of educational psychology 
is doubtless correct. It therefore seems more practical to treat 
the theoretical considerations of ethical principles rather casu- 
ally in connection with the subjects with which it is intimately 
related. 

Here it is first of all the business of the teacher of religion 
to inspire the pupils to thorough and profound reflection on 
their moral problems. Religion and the history of religion fur- 
nish him abundant material. If he is personally a man of. deep 
religious experience he will command that comforting intensity 
which is the only thing capable of implanting the cold intel- 
lectual principle into the depths of the heart. The Holy 
Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments furnish abundant 
opportunity to illustrate and vitalize the principles of ethics 



2i6 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

from the most varied viewpoints. Of course the teacher of 
religion who would regard moral education as his most im- 
portant task would not dare be required by narrowing course- 
prescriptions to devote a large amount of time to liturgies, 
apologetics and church history. The teacher should rather be 
permitted to devote his whole time and energy to letting his 
pupils feel the vital force of the fundamental concepts of re- 
ligion, such as sin, grace, redemption, faith, active righteousness, 
and to interpret them ethically. With what effect, e.g., could 
he show in connection with Isaiah, Chap. 58, that active 
charity, positive benevolence is more pleasing in the sight of 
God, and consequently morally better, than the most scrupulous 
observance of prescribed feasts. How beautifully it can be 
shown from the words of Job (35, 7), " If thou be righteous, 
what givest thou him ? " that moral conduct above all else gives 
peace and assurance as its invariable reaction on the moral man 
himself. The wilderness temptations of Christ should indeed 
furnish every teacher splendid opportunity to let the pupils find 
proofs in their own experience that man really does not live by 
bread alone, but that self-sacrificing devotion to some higher 
ideal is the only thing that gives him new energy and subjective 
happiness. There are numerous helps and books on method 
for teaching religion in this way, and Foerster likewise insists 
repeatedly that religious doctrines be conected with concrete 
experience and thus utilized for actual pedagogic development. 
The classic literature, both poetry and prose of the German 
and the ancient languages, furnish a further opportunity for the 
thorough discussion of ethical problems. I have shown above 
how I have been accustomed to utilize Plato's Apology in this 
sense. The Antigone of Sophocles is likewise well adapted 
for ethical discussion. Here a strong personality, actuated by 
profound ethico-rellglous motives, arrays himself against the 
authority of the state as embodied in Creon. Exceedingly in- 
teresting discussions concerning the right and the duty of the 
individual to criticise existing institutions may be connected with 
it. Sophocles' Philoctetus, Goethe's Iphigenia and Grillparzer's 
Weh dem, der liigt, furnish splendid opportunity to explain the 
nature of honesty and to discuss its related problems. Lessing's 
Nathan challenges a free and unprejudiced discussion of the 
relation of religion and morality. 



Ethical and Social Problems 217 

The new subject of civics has in recent years been introduced 
in Germany and Austria. In this study the pupils will become 
familiar with the rights and duties of a citizen and get an 
understanding of the meaning of civil life under constitutional 
government. Here there must be occasion at each step to touch 
upon fundamental ethical problems. I am even disposed to 
think that this whole subject will be useless and ineffective if 
this is not the case. 

And finally, introduction to philosophy, which has been taught 
in Austria for more than sixty years, and for which there is so 
much demand in Germany, readily admits of such treatment as 
will include the psychological and sociological foundations of 
ethics. Even if the suggestion of Jodl, recommended above, 
were realized there would be abundant opportunity in the pre- 
sentation of the philosophy of Socrates, Democritus, Plato, 
Aristotle and the Stoics for the discussion of ethical problems. 

In my judgment moral instruction of this kind, incorporated 
in a scientific scheme and connected with the concrete experiences 
of the pupils would be more effective than if we were to make 
ethics an additional, separate subject of instruction. However, 
the efficiency of school discipline still presupposes that it be 
administered after the manner of pastoral care rather than like 
that of a police system, and that the entire program of instruc- 
tion be permeated with the ethico-social spirit. 

So much for the ethical problems of the secondary school. 
It has been my chief purpose to offer fundamental principles 
and suggestions. Judging from personal experience this is 
more important for the educated and assiduous teacher than 
the presentation of concrete methods in application to par- 
ticular cases. Any one who wishes to do so will know how to 
apply such general directions in conformity with his own in- 
dividuality and in accordance with the needs of his class. 

Let us now turn to the requirements which the social or- 
ganism impose upon the secondary schools and accordingly upon 
their teachers. This discussion is intended to be an interpre- 
tation and development of the repeated observations concerning 
the social function of the secondary school (pp. 7, 22, 70). 
That is to say, we shall attempt to apply the sociological point of 
view, which we found of service in the elaboration of the 
concept of liberal education, to the school itself and to us 



21 8 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

teachers. Nor can we proceed systematically even here, but 
shall have to be satisfied with selecting several points which are 
in part fundamentally important, and in part furnish occasion 
for concrete, practical suggestions. 



6. The Teacher and Society 

We here use the term " society " in a twofold sense. We 
have in mind on the one hand the social organism of which the 
school and its teacher are articulate members, but on the 
other hand we are likewise thinking of the immediate environ- 
ment of the teacher, i.e., the parents of his pupils, of the circle 
in which he moves, in short, " society " in the narrower, 
ordinary sense. The relations of the teacher to society in this 
twofold sense involve a variety of demands and problems the 
most important of which we shall make the topic of a brief 
discussion. 

The social function of the secondary school in all civilized 
nations consists in fitting a number of young people for the 
filling of positions of responsibility in public life to the general 
satisfaction of all concerned. The state, which in this respect 
is almost universally the authorized agent of society, demands 
that the future clergymen and physicians, the judges, attorneys 
and administrative officials, the teachers of the advanced schools, 
engineers and architects take a systematic course of intellectual 
and moral training before they are admitted to the specialized 
professional studies. We now demand the same training, where 
agricultural colleges and technical schools are established, like- 
wise for other vocations. It follows from this as the inexorable 
logical consequence that the secondary school, whose task it is to 
prepare for these leading professions, must be an organ of social 
selection. The whole organization would have no sociologi- 
cal meaning if it were not so conceived that only the capable 
and industrious should enjoy the privileges implied in their di- 
ploma of graduation. 

Zielinski, in his excellent volume on Die Antike und wir, 
strongly emphasized this social function of the secondary school 
and illustrated it very effectively. He concludes from this 
that the school must be difficult. He in a sense would invari- 



Ethical and Social Problems 219 

ably stick close to this at present quite premature requirement. 
The course of study of a school intended to develop intellec- 
tual independence and moral responsibility, must always be 
so organized as to require a certain amount of talent and in- 
dustry to graduate. Let there be never so many concessions 
to the desired individualization, to the free election of courses 
in the advanced classes, let the methods of study be never so 
much improved, we shall forever have to demand of the pupils 
of the secondary school that they put forth a little effort and that 
they learn to do independent work. Any one who cannot or 
will not do this must be told by the faculty in good time that 
he had better turn to some other calling, one which is better 
adapted to his individuality. That is to say, we must insist 
in spite of all objections to the contrary that the exercise of 
selection among its pupils is a social function implied in the na- 
ture of the secondary school. 

This selection is effected, theoretically at least, to no small 
degree by the course of study. But as teachers we have no 
direct influence on the organization of the course of study. If 
the Bureau of Education with its supervisory functions expected 
nothing more from us than the strict carrying out of the pre- 
scribed courses, i.e., to repress us to the level of teaching-auto- 
mata, then the entire function .of selection would rest upon 
the Bureau alone. There have indeed actually been times and 
conceptions such as this. But at present it Is universally con- 
ceded that every schedule of courses is merely a dead letter 
which only becomes an actual educational program through the 
vital effort of the teacher. It is by means of our effort there- 
fore that the educational program becomes a fact and for this 
very reason we should regard ourselves likewise as organs of so- 
cial selection. Inasmuch as the problem of the secondary school 
can be solved only through our effort it Is highly important that 
we constantly strive after a clearer and more definite under- 
standing of its high purposes in all its bearings. If we are con- 
vinced that the secondary school has an important social function 
to perform and feel that we ourselves are responsible for the 
effective discharge of that function we shall be under obliga- 
tion to make a constant study of the program of studies to see 
whether it is fitted to achieve what society demands of the 
secondary school. We teachers should therefore try to exert 



220 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

an influence on the organization and arrangement of the pro- 
gram of studies and it is in this sense that my previously 
(p. 83) established suggestions are to be interpreted. 

And even in the practical application of the existing program 
the v^^hole conduct of the school, in the administration of dis- 
comes us to be constantly aware of this our exalted mission in 
the whole conduct of the school, in the administration of dis- 
cipline, and particularly in our judgments as to the fitness or 
unfitness of our pupils for graduation. The intellectual and 
moral development of coming generations depends on the con- 
scientiousness and skill with which we cooperate in this social 
selection. If wholly incompetent elements pass the secondary 
school or even such as haven't learned how to do independent 
work, we cannot escape the criticism that our social task has 
been but very poorly discharged. The ideal public school 
teacher is the man who imparts the subject matter of the course 
to all the pupils. The ideal secondary teacher, while making 
an honest effort to advance as many as possible, will constantly 
keep in mind his duty to reject the incompetent and the indolent 
at the proper time. In the exercise of this function we must 
equally reckon with both talent and industry, two psychical 
dispositions that are but rarely combined. Industry is cer- 
tainly a social attribute of very great value and where this is 
highly developed we can afford to judge less rigorously. But 
we will as a matter of course never lose sight of our fundamental 
aim, the training to independent intellectual effort, the attain- 
ment of which is impossible without a certain amount of ability. 
If we are charged from various quarters with attaching undue 
importance to industry, we can calmly ignore it and base our 
judgment on a correct estimate of the social significance of in- 
dustry. We will recall an expression of Franz Grillparzer, a 
poet, who said of himself : " Inspiration was my god, and it 
has remained such," and nevertheless expresses the conviction 

" Von Himmel trauft herab des Landmanns Segen, 
Doch trankt den Boden auch des Landraann's Schweiss, 
1st das Talent der gottgesandte Regen, 
1st, was die Frucht gibt, immer nur der Fleiss." 

We have previously shown that in passing judgment on 
pupils, particularly when it involves dismissal, everything must 



Ethical and Social Problems 221 

be weighed with exceeding care. The teacher will endeavor 
to get the clearest possible idea of the ability, the application 
and the whole peculiarity of every pupil by means of numerous 
personal observations, comipare his own conclusion with that 
of his colleagues and constantly try to verify his judgment 
more firmlj^ If he constantly keeps in mind the fact that his 
judgment not only affects the individual pupil, but that it is 
likewise of vast significance to the whole social organism, he 
cannot be too careful in balancing his judgments and in the 
conscientiousness of his conclusions. He will employ every 
possible means of becoming thoroughly acquainted with his 
pupils, and then make his decisions clearly and firmly in the 
full light of his responsibility. 

Association with the parents is likewise an important method 
of getting better acquainted with the pupils. This is without 
doubt a part of our social duty, which sometimes at least involves 
not only slight inconveniences, but even profound mortifications. 
One unfortunately not infrequently discovers with us here in 
Austria that the parents entertain an almost irreconcilable hatred 
and a mortifying distrust against the teacher. I must frankly 
confess that personally I have not suffered much from this 
source, but I have witnessed expressions which must fill every 
teacher who is proud of his calling with downright alarm and 
profound anguish. We may indeed not be wholly without 
blame for this situation which is so thoroughly disastrous for 
the school and its success, owing to the fact that it is not always 
possible to avoid the appearance of hostility described in all 
its dangerousness above (p. i8o f). But the fundamental rea- 
son, at least according to my experience, for this situation lies 
in the fact that there is much confusion of understanding of the 
real problem of the secondary school, an understanding which is 
not infrequently found even among well educated parents. In 
the majority of cases they think no farther than that their 
children shall get through and participate in the privileges con- 
nected with graduation from the secondary school. On the 
other hand it is but rarely that they inquire into the extent to 
which the intellectual and moral development of the children 
is advanced, and very few understand that a man may be a quite 
efficient and very respectable gentleman even if he possesses 
but little aptitude for abstract thought, such as is presupposed in 



222 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

the study of languages and mathematics. 

It is nevertheless our duty to carefully cultivate the acquaint- 
ance of the parents of our pupils. The Austrian scheme of 
organization offers very excellent advice on this social inter- 
course, a suggestion quite in keeping v^ith the authority of the 
school. *' The school is neither to enforce it, nor to go begging 
for it, but simply to provide for its possibility." But we must 
at present go somewhat beyond this viewpoint. We must not 
only give the parents a chance to get information concerning the 
progress and the conduct of their children, we must in fact 
seek this chance and give the parents the impression that mutual 
confidence based on the cooperation of the school and the home 
is our most earnest wish. If we know how to avoid the pro- 
fessional reserve so easily acquired, we can learn a great deal 
from these interviews. We frequently discover many an item 
that will simplify the treatment of certain pupils. We perceive 
that we have made an error in our judgment of the peculiarity 
of the pupil concerned and we now try some other method of 
approach. I have abundant personal experiences in verifica- 
tion of this fact. Especially as supervisor (Ordinarius) of the 
freshman class, if the parents visited me, say after about two 
months from the beginning of the year, I frequently said that 
I was not yet sufficiently acquainted with their son ; that I was 
unable to tell whether the unfavorable results hitherto were 
due to confusion, indolence or lack of ability. I asked of 
them to tell me about the young man's deportment at home, 
whether he found the subject difficult, whether he liked going 
to school, with whom he associated, whether he was a leader 
or rather preferred to submit to others. By such inquiries I 
sometimes was enabled to approach the young man from a dif- 
ferent angle and thus help him get on. If the parents have 
once placed confidence in the teacher they will accept his ad- 
vice and eventually conclude that their son is unfit for the 
school. 

The inexperienced teacher will have many embarrassing ex- 
periences in these conferences. For example, fathers or moth- 
ers will come and overwhelm him with courtesies and fre- 
quently assume an attitude of submissiveness, even to down- 
right servility. Yet these will often be the very ones who will 
no longer even recognize the teacher after the pupil in question 



Ethical and Social Problems 223 

is no longer in his class. In order to be consistent with the 
facts I must say that this has occurred to me but seldom. But 
the few names which I here have in mind I can recall even to- 
day. This is due to the fact that at the beginning of my pro- 
fessional career I had the weakness of worrying over such 
nonsense. But if a man has in the course of time attained 
to a higher conception of his profession he will neither feel 
flattered by submissiveness nor wounded by discourtesies. These 
are trifles which a man soon learns to ignore. The not infre- 
quent cases in which the parents appeal to some prominent patron 
are more embarrassing. A father is apt to say, " I am very 
anxious that my son shall graduate at the gymnasium because 
I know that he will then have smooth sailing." Such a case 
requires great caution. A man dare not allow himself to be 
affected by such arguments, and yet he dare not give vent 
to any disparaging observations, as he may well feel inclined 
to do. I have generally replied to such insinuations: " It 
is indeed very nice for your son that his promotion is simplified, 
but if he can't do anything himself, his patrons will likewise 
be unable to assist him." 

In, the last analysis the important matter is this, namely, 
that the parents be convinced that the teacher is a friend and 
not an enemy of the pupils. I have frequently quoted the 
prophecy of Ezekiel where Jehovah makes him say: " I have 
no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked turn 
from his way and live" (Ch. 33, 11). The pupils would 
tell this at home, as I frequently gathered from later reports, 
and in this way the parents learned that my intentions were 
good. I have consequently got along pleasantly with the par- 
ents throughout my whole professional career and the cases 
previously cited were merely incidental exceptions. 

There is still another rather delicate point which I do not 
wish to ignore entirely. Many parents, particularly those in 
more fortunate economic circumstances, sometimes try to get 
into close touch with their son's teacher in a social way. A 
man receives invitations to supper, to a theater box, or a visit 
during vacation. And sometimes even theater and opera tick- 
ets are freely sent to the house. It seems like a very innocent 
affair, but I must urge my colleagues to the greatest caution. 
Such slight attentions as these do not greatly differ in their 



224 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

effect from presents offered with the definite purpose of win- 
ning favor. Attempts at bribery have become more rare, 
thank God, but they have not yet entirely ceased. Every kind 
of bribery, no matter whether it appears in a coarse or mild 
form, " blindeth the wise and perverteth the words of the 
righteous" (Exodus 23, 8). In his third Philippic oration 
Demosthenes has beautifully set forth this effect of the irregular 
acceptance of gifts in the following passage : " If you place 
money on one side of the balance it sinks immediately and the 
judgment is quickly drawn down with it." One thing is cer- 
tain, namely, that our subjective independence suffers from 
every kind of excessive intimacy. We have the very best inten- 
tions to show no prejudice notwithstanding these relations, but 
only to discover the sophistry of the human intellect. Argu- 
ments favorable to the pupil concerned arise capriciously and it is 
next to impossible to exercise strict, absolutely impartial jus- 
tice under such circumstances. Any one therefore who attaches 
any importance not only to having a clean external record, but 
w^ould likewise wish to remain unchallenged before the judg- 
ment bar of his own soul, his own conscience, any one who 
has adopted Iphigenia's maxim: "The unsullied heart alone 
finds joy," will do well to exercise great caution in social inter- 
course with his pupil's parents and constantly practice a certain 
degree of reserve. 

The same principle applies to the conduct of the teacher out- 
side the school. We must never forget that we are trainers of 
youth and that upon entering our profession, no matter how 
young we may be, we must constantly bear a certain degree 
of dignity. Here we should take Goethe's statement as our 
motto : 

" Der kann sich manchen Wiinsch gewahren, 
Der kalt sich selbst und seinem Wollen lebt. 
Wer andere wohl zu leiten strebt, 
Muss fahig sein, viel zu entbehren." 

We do not mean to say that we should timidly refrain from 
social fellowship entirely, confine ourselves to association with 
our colleagues and lead an isolated life. This would not be 
to the advantage of our profession and still less to the advan- 
tage of the school. We should indeed acquaint ourselves with 



Ethical and Social Problems 225 

real life in order that we rhay likewise be in position to act as 
guides and advisers to our pupils in this respect. We can 
even accomplish much towards the interpretation of life in 
the cafe and the restaurant and thus materially enlarge the 
sphere of our pedagogic activity. But even aside from this 
we are by no means condemned to abstain from pleasure and 
enjoyment. We should rather participate in the undertakings 
of the educated classes of the community in which we serve. 
We may dance, skate, play tennis, go skiing, play billiards 
and, with thoroughly reliable people, even cards. But it is 
exceedingly important that we never entirely forget our po- 
sition. There must constantly be a certain measure of sub- 
jective control manifest. This applies particularly to the use 
of alcohol. A teacher who is seen drunk and staggering 
towards his home has without doubt dropped considerably in the 
estimation of the parents and pupils. On this point it were 
highly desirable if all teachers would familiarize themselves 
with the scientific arguments of the total abstinence move- 
ment, and, after having convinced themselves of the absolute 
harmfulness of this means of indulgence, seek to exert an in- 
fluence in this direction on pupils and parents. 

The faculty of an institution situated in one of the smaller 
provincial cities should regard it a matter of duty to con- 
tribute to the uplift of the intelligence of the community and 
to inspire interest in literary, artistic and scientific affairs. 
The people appreciate it, as I can testify from experience. 
The faculty thus acquires a social position in the community 
which makes it an easy matter for each teacher to maintain his 
dignity. He is everywhere received with great respect, peo- 
ple expect interesting information from him. If he visits a 
cafe or restaurant people ask questions concerning the questions 
of the day, and thus an atmosphere develops that makes it 
well nigh impossible for the teacher to compromise himself. 

If we advance from single suggestions to larger projects, 
such as instituting a course of popular lectures, organizing 
reading circles, founding societies for the uplift of the general 
culture of the city, the respect of the citizens for the faculty 
and the individual professors increases and one is no longer 
under necessity of exercising the same amount of reserve in 
social intercourse. It thus appears even here, as has been the 



226 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

case so often before in this book, that positive impulses, filling 
the mind with concrete materials, and with definite purposes 
operates far more certainly and beneficially for the solution of 
our problems and the maintenance of our position than the 
constant introduction of a cumbersome restraining apparatus. 
If we survey the problems of the teacher elaborated in the 
whole book we must acknowledge that we have grown into 
these problems only as we have been indefatigably disciplining 
ourselves in this direction. But many fail to attain a clear 
appreciation of their exalted pedagogic task until late, after 
having spent a number of years in the profession. They have 
attended the university for the purpose of devoting themselves 
to science, and they regard science afterwards as well as before 
as the only worthy object of their efforts. Or perhaps they 
have chosen the teaching profession because here a man may 
quickly earn a living, and they are satisfied with having fulfilled 
the requirements of their superiors and are not othenvise dis- 
turbed. Then if they eventually discover that the office of 
secondary teacher involves more than this, it is often too late to 
thoroughly readjust the accustomed mode of thought. If we 
would therefore attain a secondary teacher's profession which 
will appreciate its exalted task and be prepared to devote its 
whole energy to this task, greater care will have to be shown in 
the training of teachers than has hitherto been the case. We 
shall therefore briefly state, as the conclusion of our exposition, 
how the pedagogic preparation urgently required of teachers 
for our profession should be conducted and provided for. 

7. The Pedagogic Preparation of the Teacher 

I have expressed myself in detail on the scientific training of 
the teacher in the third chapter. I made reference to peda- 
gogic preparation in that connection only in so far as the theo- 
retical study of pedagogy was described as the general con- 
cern of all teachers. In the fourth chapter, where our didactical 
problems formed the theme of our discussion I was particu- 
larly concerned to direct the attention of our present genera- 
tion of active teachers to the most important principles of in- 
struction and to furnish, in a brief survey of the special meth- 
ods in the various branches, useful suggestions and plans. On 



Ethical and Social Problems 227 

the point of the teacher's pedagogic training I have however 
thus far only spoken incidentally and nowhere have I said 
anything as to the method and to what extent I regard it neces- 
sary. I have postponed this explanation for the simple reason 
that it seemed to me important that it should be preceded by an 
exposition of the ethical and social problems of the teacher. 
Now that we have the whole list of functions required of us 
in full view, we can readily see that a young man cannot so eas- 
ily adapt himself by his own genius to such a responsible office, 
one that demands such peculiar syntheses and such a variety of 
capacities. We must rather assist him in every conceivable 
way and try with all our might to devise methods and ar- 
rangements which will make it possible for him and eventually 
impel him to prepare himself in every respect for his future 
profession of teaching. 

The superintendents of educatiop of Germany and Austria 
have for some time already recognized the necessity of an 
intensive pedagogical training for the teachers of the advanced 
schools as indicated above (p. 13), and founded various in- 
stitutions to meet this need. All of these institutions are based 
on the principle that the university years are to be devoted 
to scientific training and that the practical introduction into the 
teaching profession shall not begin until after the examination 
in pedagogics. The prospective teacher shall be required, in 
addition to the professional branches, to attend courses in 
philosophy and pedagogy at the university. The candidate 
shall give evidence of his attainments in theoretical principles 
either by a written dissertation or an actual examination. 

Here in Austria, by the enactment of 1897, the candidates 
were required to prepare for two colloquies, one in philosophy 
and one in pedagogy, which however has been modified by an 
examination ordinance so that now an examination in peda- 
gogy is all that Is required. This examination shall cover 
the general theory of education together with Its psychological 
and logical (not the ethical) fundamental principles, and the 
history of education since the sixteenth century. 

As to the institution of the colloquies I have been In position 
during the past fourteen years to gather extraordinarily rich 
experiences, since I have had to conduct upwards of five thou- 
sand such examinations during this period. Coming at the 



228 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

close of each semester it was a very exhausting task. I must 
acknowledge however that this institution was by no means 
useless and it could easily have been developed to still greater 
effectiveness. The majority of the students who, e.g., reported 
on a course in introduction to philosophy were well able to 
discuss the main tendencies of philosophy intelligently, could 
distinguish between the problems of epistemology and meta- 
physics and showed considerable familiarity with the terminol- 
ogy. Those who took the examinations in psychology got 
even greater advantage for their future vocation from it. 
Finally for the past eight years several hundred students who 
attended my course in practical secondary school pedagogy each 
summer semester reported for colloquy on it. The majority 
of them knew the pedagogic principles which I had elaborated 
quite well and carried a number of practical suggestions with 
them into their life's work. We shall have to await results to 
see whether the present examination system will produce better 
results. 

It is necessary at any rate that the prospective teachers should 
likewise receive pedagogical training for their future profession 
even at the university, and I am disposed to think that con- 
siderable more should be done in this respect than there is at 
present. Even in the first edition of this work and afterwards 
in a brochure on " Unsere Mittelschule " I strongly advocated 
the plan that the prospective teachers be required to visit an in- 
stitution and observe practical teaching during the last two years 
of their university course, to draft hour schedules and teach 
test lessons in the presence of a committee. Immediately fol- 
lowing these lessons they are to be made the subject of discus- 
sion and criticism. These suggestions, which I have also ad- 
vocated at teachers' conferences, have called forth vigorous op- 
position from very respectable quarters. Before I again state 
and justify my conclusions let me call attention to the fact 
that Prof. Willman conducted such exercises with splendid 
success for many years at Prague In connection with his 
seminar, and that these exercises were then continued in the 
same manner by Willman's successor, Prof. Alois Hofler. 

In the first place it is objected that in directing the university 
students to practical exercises we withdraw them from science 
and thus cut short the time required for their special branch 



Ethical and Social Problems 229 

which is so imperatively necessary. Some think moreover that 
the students in the midst of their scientific studies would take 
no interest in practical instruction such as pedagogy. Then 
too many practical educators think that the orderly progress 
of regular instruction would suffer undue confusion and in- 
terruption by the continuous casual visitors and test lessons. 
Finally the majority of school teachers regard acquaintance 
with the technique of instruction and of school administration 
as a practical introduction to the teaching profession. They 
accordingly likewise quietly assume that every one will get 
enough of this from his own experience. On this last point 
they are undoubtedly correct. If the practical preparation for 
teaching were nothing more than the acquisition of technical ac- 
complishments and methodical stratagems, then there would cer- 
tainly be no need for formal organizations and institutions. In 
that case the formal arrangement of the " extended year of 
probation " were indeed the most superfluous thing in the 
world. And so precisely it would appear to the majority of 
the candidates, who actually never get a clear idea of what is in- 
tended, and do not care to understand why there should be so 
much ado about such simple matters. 

My conception of the nature and significance of such practical 
exercises is entirely different. Permit me to briefly outline this 
conception and verify it. The objections brought against such 
exercises will thus, I trust, refute themselves. 

The object of the preparation which I am recommending is 
by no means intended, or at least not chiefly, to be a student 
drill in the art of teaching. I regard these exercises rather, 
above all else, as moral and as scientific discipline of the future 
teacher. In the first place the student is to learn to get the 
viewpoint of the teacher. Even by the casual attendance he 
will come to regard the class period in an entirely new light from 
that to which he had previously been accustomed. Then if 
he is given the subject of a test lesson about two weeks in 
advance and is required to prepare thoroughly himself on it, 
he will doubtless discover gaps in his scientific training. A 
thorough examination say of a passage from Caesar which is 
to be interpreted, will reveal the fact that he hasn't a sufficiently 
clear conception of relative clauses, that his knowledge of con- 
ditions in Rome in the year 52 (the beginning of the seventh 



230 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

book of the Gallic Wars) is not sufficiently exact, that the 
precise significance of this or that mode of speech does not 
occur to him. The approaching test lesson, the fear of expos- 
ing himself in the presence of his colleagues, will certainly induce 
him to fill out all these gaps conscientiously, and he will thus 
gain greatly in subjective assurance. 

But the moral effect of every test lesson seems to me of 
still greater importance. We assume it as granted that it is 
not the pupils who are responsible for the imperfect results of 
the instruction, but the teachers. He is plainly and frankly 
told in the conference which immediately follows the lesson, 
that he had given occasion for incorrect answers by an error 
in the formulation of his question. His attention is called to 
the fact that too few of the pupils actively participated in the 
recitation and that consequently a part of the class sat th^re 
unoccupied. He discovers that he moved either too rapidly or 
too slowly, that he failed to inspire the interest of the pupils suf- 
ficiently and that consequently there was not sufficient attention 
manifest in the class. Sometimes he is also shown actual mis- 
takes and thus acquainted with his lack of preparation. If 
the student knows that his permission to take the final examina- 
tion admitting him to the profession depends on the results in 
the test lesson he will take himself in hand quite differently the 
next time. And perhaps — and this will largely depend on the 
skill of the man in charge of these exercises — he will acquire a 
genuine interest in the business which is new to him. He will 
discover that a man really can never know enough for these lit- 
tle ones, and further that one must study their peculiarities 
and hence needs to know psychology. He may perhaps even 
soon learn to know the joy which a teacher experiences when 
he succeeds in arousing the mind of youths and inspires them to 
genuine responsiveness. This much is certain however, he will 
learn what thorough preparation means and what a man must 
require of himself in this respect. All of this will be impressed 
upon him by concrete incidents, by definite experiences with all 
the color of individuality and personal touch. And the effect 
will be quite different from the study of general principles, no 
matter how beautifully they are presented. 

Such psychical influences and moral transformations can be 
accomplished with students more readily and likewise more 



Ethical and Social Problems 231 

thoroughly than with probationers. The probationer has passed 
his final examination and may even have his doctor's degree. 
He feels that he is a young man who has completed his studies 
and it is now his business to apply his knowledge. He is now 
placed in charge of men who are older in years and experience 
than he, but with whom he feels a sense of equality so far as 
pertains to academic degrees and scientific training. If such 
men require him, e.g., to read a book on the general theory of 
pedagogy or on special methods, it impresses him as a bit of 
distasteful tutelage. He sees no necessity for this because the 
art of teaching what he has learned does not appear to him 
beset with any great difficulties. And since it may easily come 
to pass that he does not concede the scientific superiority of the 
men who are inducting him into his profession, he will perhaps 
outwardly conform with their requirements, but subjectively 
feel, that this whole matter which is now imposed on him and 
which he must discharge is of little or no advantage to him. 
And it involves a number of externals besides. The position of 
the committee of eleven in relation to the pupils on the extended 
year of probation is by no means a pleasant one. If the com- 
mittee of teachers have sufficient tact to treat the candidates 
assigned to them as younger colleagues, the situation may at 
least become tolerable. But there is always room for the fear 
that it may sometimes fail, and then the inevitable result fol- 
lows, namely, that the pupils regard the candidates as sub- 
ordinates with whom they are permitted all sorts of privileges. 
The young man does not always know how to help himself 
and may thus be embittered and come to the point of regarding 
the pupils not as subjects committed to him for instruction, but 
as on the same plane with himself or sometimes even as superior 
enemies against whom he must defend himself by every means 
at his command. But we have previously shown in detail how 
fatal such a conception of his position is for the teacher and 
the pupils alike. The probationer, who, as we have observed, 
regards himself as a mature man, moreover is far less receptive 
of instruction and criticism than the student. He may per- 
haps try to please the committee by learning pedagogic tricks, 
but his whole conception of the profession, his relation to the 
pupils, his sense of responsibility, his views concerning the re- 
lation of science and pedagogy, in short his whole mind is no 



232 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

longer so plastic, no longer so capable of training as that of 
the student. Open resistance towards instruction and adr 
monition is not very common, although it does sometimes 
occur. But the subjective resistance, w^hich only the trained 
psychologist recognizes; the countenance, which betrays the 
feeling that he knows all this better himself; the passivity, which 
renders all influence more difficult; everyone who has had 
anything to do with probationers will recognize all these things 
from his personal experiences. 

These things are entirely different in the case of students. 
They maintain that they are still in the making and they are 
consequently, according to the famous poetic phrase, " forever 
grateful." They are open to new ideas and permit them to 
have their full effect. They are accustomed from the practice 
of the seminar to have their work subjected to severe and de- 
tailed criticism both by professors and their colleagues. And 
the majority of the students will be glad for a chance to become 
intimately acquainted with the various functions of their future 
vocation. It will be entirely new to them and consequently 
very interesting. They have not as yet formed any clear idea 
of their calling. They approach the matter with a certain 
degree of curiosity and readily follow the course of the de- 
velopment. They regard the test lessons somewhat like the 
interpretations or reviews of the seminar. They make careful 
preparation because they know they will be closely criticised. 
In the conferences which immediately follow the lessons they 
are open to objections and suggestions. They will frequently 
defend their position vigorously against the criticism of their 
colleagues and even in this way penetrate more deeply into 
didactic principles. It will gradually become self-evident that 
it is their fault if the pupils show no interest and fail to par- 
ticipate actively in the lesson. They will concentrate all their 
pride, their whole mental energy, to inspire the pupils, to get 
correct answers to their questions and to see to it that the class 
actually retains something from the work covered. This en- 
tirely new attitude of mind, this concentration on the pedagogic 
purpose, this subjective transition from the school-room desk 
to the teacher's chair seems to me by far the most important 
preparation for our profession. All these psychical processes 
may be more easily and more effectively secured with students 



Ethical and Social Problems 233 

than with probationers. 

Parallel with this radical transition which must take place 
if the former pupil is to be transformed into a teacher a number 
of other not inconsiderable advantages accrue from such ex- 
ercises. The student acquires a sense of freedom in the pres- 
ence of the class. The confused mass eventually arranges itself 
automatically into a number of individuals of varying individ- 
uality and talent. He learns to speak with clearness and pre- 
cision. He discovers that a man must have complete self-pos- 
session during the class period, and in this way likewise acquires 
an exceedingly effective discipline of his subjective self in his 
new position. 

I am therefore convinced that the practical introduction into 
our profession should begin in the university, because there it 
will be more effective and it can actually accomplish, what we 
so much need, the production of the moral dispositions which 
are absolutely indispensable for our profession. I have already 
observed that scientific training does not suffer by this mode of 
procedure but that it is rather fostered from within. And now 
in order to answer the objections of practical teachers I will 
briefly describe the arrangement of such exercises as I have in 
mind. 

The course of study for the secondary teacher covers four 
years with us. In Germany the old three year course is still in 
vogue, but in actual practice the majority of candidates cer- 
tainly spend four years at the university. I therefore construe 
my plan on the basis of a four year course. Of these four 
years the first two are to be exclusively devoted to the scientific 
study of the special subject chosen. Here every one may study 
as if he meant sometime to enter upon a university professor- 
ship. The young man is to throw himself into his science with 
all the enthusiasm at his command. He shall not permit him- 
self to be affected by any considerations concerning his future 
profession. He shall study, as far as possible, whatever and 
with whom he pleases guided only by his own scientific inter- 
ests. These two years must reveal whether he feels disposed 
to become a scholar, an investigator, whether he has the ability 
and is called to devote himself entirely to science and only to 
science, or whether his inclinations and talents impel him to- 
wards the profession of teaching. He should come to a decision 



234 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

by the beginning of the fifth semester. Students should be de- 
livered from the false impression that there is still plenty of time 
to become a teacher after admission to a university professor- 
ship has failed. They should know that the teacher's vocation 
is no less dignified, but only differently constituted and re- 
quires different training. 

In case a student decides upon the teaching profession, he 
must report to the professor of pedagogics, participate in the 
theoretical exercises in the pedagogical seminar and enroll in 
the list of candidates for the teaching profession. The pro- 
fessor shall then make provision for each of his students to visit 
periods of actual teaching, that he be required to draft hour 
schedules and make reports on what he has seen and heard. 
This rather receptive exercise will not claim much of his time 
and the student will be able to continue his specialized scien- 
tific studies as before. In the second semester of the third 
or at the beginning of the fourth year at the university he 
should begin the test-lessons after the manner described 
above. On these lessons he must take careful notes. Every 
student shall have given some eight or ten lessons before 
being admitted to examination. The clause, " practical peda- 
gogic ability," is to be added to his certificate, and only such 
as can show an adequate amount of work Under this head 
shall be admitted to the final professional examination. If 
the efforts at teaching repeatedly fail entirely, we should 
strongly advise the young man to seek some other profession, 
and eventually refuse him admission to the professional examina- 
tion. This will not often be necessary, but it would still be 
possible in this way to prevent the wholly unfit from entering 
the profession. 

A number of colleagues, who hold metropolitan positions, 
interpose the objection to this suggestion of which we have made 
previous mention and for which I must confess there is some jus- 
tification. These gentlemen think that in case of a large number 
of candidates such test lessons would of necessity occur quite fre- 
quently and that thus the uniform conduct be considerably dis- 
turbed. I can readily understand why the regularly appointed 
teachers should defend themselves against such disturbances. 
Our time is closely calculated and we have pressing need for all 
of it. We must utilize it energetically and economically if we 



Ethical and Social Problems 235 

are to cover the ground required. And just for this very reason 
I do not intend by any means that these test lessons shall be 
crowded into the regular school course. If the purpose which 
I would realize by these exercises is to be actually attained 
model secondary schools will have to be established in every 
university city similar to those already long in existence for 
the elementary and public schools. The very best teachers must 
be secured for these institutions and in addition the number of 
pupils must not be too great and if possible they should be select. 
But so long as we do not have such institutions we should 
pursue the method so successfully operated by Willman and 
Hofler. Invite a number of pupils of their own free choice to 
come to an institution, whose principal will take an interest 
in the matter, during half-holidays and let the candidate give 
them his test lesson in the presence of the principal, the professor 
of pedagogy and the department specialist, which shall be dis- 
cussed immediately afterwards as- indicated above. Since the 
classes change, not all of the pupils being required to attend 
-— twenty is quite a sufficient number, — the pupils lose but very 
little time. And the increased burden on the various depart- 
ment specialists is not great. There is more demand on the 
principal who is expected to be present every week. But he will 
gladly assume this additional task because of his interest in 
the training of teachers and because it furnishes him an oppor- 
tunity to become acquainted with the coming generation of 
teachers from whom he can later on select one or another, of 
those whose test lessons pleased him, for his institution. 

The professor of pedagogy as a matter of course has by far the 
heaviest task which is actually not a small one. If this ar- 
rangement, as I confidently hope, is once recognized as the only 
method for training a full-fledged teaching profession in its 
problems and its responsibilities, the professorships of pedagogy 
will have to be correspondingly increased, successful teachers 
secured and appointed as assistants to the professors. In short, 
the formal arrangements, the financial provision, which would 
be comparatively small, the securing of suitable men, all of 
this involves no great difficult}^ The most important thing of 
all is to convince the board of education, the examining com- 
mittees, the philosophical faculties and finally even the parents 
and the pupils, i.e., the educated general public of the advantage 



236 Proble?ns of the Secondary Teacher 

and necessity of this measure. 

With us here in Austria this arrangement should certainly 
appeal to the board of education even for the reason that there 
is so frequently a dearth of teachers. In such periods of dearth, 
I have experienced tw^o since the time of my entrance upon 
my profession (1876), not only the " additional " year of pro- 
bation, but even the '' simple " year of probation had to be dis- 
pensed w^ith. The young men came directly from the university 
to the school without the slightest pedagogic training. They 
must at once undertake the teaching of a number of classes 
independently, have the same duties and privileges as the other, 
regularly appointed teachers and must adjust themselves ac- 
cordingly. They are usually assigned to the supervision of a 
more experienced teacher, but the assistance of this supervising 
teacher, who is busily engaged and has but little time to visit the 
classes of his younger colleague, can be of but very little account. 
He can simply offer a few practical suggestions, but of peda- 
gogic training there can be none. The board should not allow 
themselves to be deceived on this point and still less deceive 
themselves by official documents which may be bureaucratically 
valuable but in point of fact useless. It is not at all amazing if 
the young people make great mistakes and, what is far worse, 
if they form distorted and ruinous ideas of their vocation and 
of the relation of the teacher to the pupils, and allow them to 
become fixed. With how much greater confidence could such a 
young man be given charge of a class, if we knew that he had 
been in practical contact with school for a period of two years, 
that he had given test lessons, prepared himself and even ex- 
perienced what it means to be a teacher and to impart instruc- 
tion. The suggestions and advice of the supervising teacher 
will likewise have an entirely different effect with an amateur 
who has been trained in this fashion. 

But the effect of such exercises on the whole mind of the 
future teacher previously discussed seems to me vastly more 
important th^n these resulting advantages for the continuation 
of the school system during periods of a dearth of teachers. 
The sense of personal responsibility for the pedagogic results and 
for the entire conduct of the class, the habit of thorough prep- 
aration even to details, the conviction that this is the sole pos- 



Ethical and Social Problems 237 

sible method of attaining self-assurance, insight into the rela- 
tion of the teacher to the pupils, the subjective impulse to be 
continually striving at self-improvement, all these things can 
only be effectively achieved for the advanced teacher's pro- 
fession by implanting these ideas and sentiments in the plastic 
minds of the students. The teachers of the public schools 
furnish clear proof of this fact. Every one of them has drafted 
hour schedules and given test lessons and the majority of them 
are therefore accustomed to methodical, exact preparation and 
are interested in such problems. Our pedagogic problems are 
more difficult to solve, hence the need of even more intensive 
pedagogic training. 

I have already stated the fact that even the scientific educa- 
tion of the candidates must necessarily gain something by this 
method. Let me add in substantiation the results of my ex- 
perience. I have twice given courses on methods of teaching 
the ancient classics at the University of Vienna. During the 
latter half of the semester I arranged exercises in the ordinary 
method of interpreting the ancient authors. The first time I 
took the Iliad, the next time the Antigone of Sophocles. I 
urged the students to voluntary participation and to prepare 
themselves according to outlines which I furnished them. It 
repeatedly happened that it was only through the requirement 
of the ordinary interpretation that they clearly saw that cer- 
tain forms and phenomena of syntax which they of course knew 
in a general way, were however not as fully understood in their 
depth and breadth as was necessary for the work of the school. 

I think therefore, that we must by all means begin the training 
of teachers at the university. And I am convinced that the 
plans here suggested, which in practice will certainly require a 
number of modifications, are adapted to help us forward towards 
the desired goal. 

If a candidate who has been trained in this manner passes his 
examination and enrolls for his year of probation, this year can 
be employed in an entirely different and far more effective way. 
We can then introduce him to the administration of discipline 
and show him in this connection how much can be done here 
towards the formation of character. He will then discern the 
fact that we must not only be teachers, but likewise trainers. 
And he will thus acquire an appreciation for the ethical and 



238 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

social problems of our vocation. And this will again furnish 
him opportunity to extend and deepen his scientific education, 
which was thus far as a matter of course confined to his own de- 
partment, by means of psychological, sociological and ethical 
studies. 

After the young man has as a student thus achieved the veer- 
ing about from the pupil's desk to the teacher's chair referred to 
above ; after his pedagogic conscience is quickened and sharpened, 
after he has overcome his natural timidity in the presence of 
the class and has had a little exercise in practical teaching, after 
he has then acquired the requisite appreciation of the peda- 
gogic problems as a probationer, then, but not until then, the 
state may entrust him with the independent guidance of the 
pupils. We must make sure of one thing, namely, that not 
only the germs, but even the impulse to constant further develop- 
ment have been deeply implanted in his mind. 

If the board of education and the educated classes of society 
clearly appreciate the wonderfully significant and important 
social function of the secondary school, if all the governing fac- 
tors clearly see that the culture and morality of the next 
generation is essentially molded by the pedagogic results of the 
advanced teaching profession, then will the conviction, that 
we must concentrate all our energy on training up a teaching 
profession which is conscious of and permeated with its sublime 
task, begin to make some headway. Society will then naturally 
accord to such a teaching profession the economic and social po- 
sition which its high significance and service deserves. 

Conclusion 

The problems of the secondary teacher which have here been 
set forth in broad detail, despite their great variety, bear cer- 
tain characteristics and peculiarities which give them a com- 
mon brand. 

Thus we observe everywhere that the positive, the concrete 
and real, which fills our consciousness with real content is far 
more important than the negative-critical, which rejects and 
restrains. This manifests itself very clearly in our scientific 
training. We find it of far greater importance to know per- 
fectly and exactly the positive results of investigation, to have at 



Ethical and Social Problems 239 

our disposal a wealth of fact-data and constantly have it at 
our command, than to possess the ability to refute false views 
with critical acumen. My university studies came at a time 
when the critical spirit prevailed, especially in philology and 
history. This criticism was not only directed against the au- 
thority of the manuscripts and against the convenient legend. 
People looked at a scientific work, a dissertation first of all to 
see w^hether the author had not made a mistake somewhere, 
which they tried, with much energy and even more pleasure, to 
prove. 

The after effects of this hypercritical period, which, thank 
God, is past, are still noticeable among many of us, especially 
among classical philologists. There are at the present time 
still many who ask first of all concerning another man's work, 
what is to be rejected and where are its vulnerable points. 
Such natures are easily inclined to apply their critical methods 
in the estimation of the work of the pupils. But here this 
mode of procedure is entirely out of place. Here one must 
rather discover, both in the answers as well as in the written 
exercises of the pupils, the things that are positively present, 
the things that have actually been learned, because it is only 
on this that we can build further. We must not ascertain our 
pupil's errors with a sense of superiority or with subjective re- 
sentment. We must rather be concerned to understand them, 
to search out their psychological antecedents, if we w^ould suc- 
cessfully attack them. 

Every one of us has discovered this advantage of the positive 
method over the critical, even if not clearly conscious of the fact. 
In the preparation for teaching, let us say, the interpretation 
of an ancient or a modern author, a section of geography or of 
history, in short in every preparation we get the best results 
from the handbooks and commentaries that contain the most 
positive information. Critical editions which merely contain 
various readings and explanations concerning the probability 
of the one or the other, do not possess by far the same value as 
the detailed commentary of fact and linguistic structure. So 
the historian is likewise surest to find in the rich collections of 
source documents the things which he needs for teaching. 

But the tendency towards the positive likewise affects our 
didactic problems. We gain the attention of the pupils far 



240 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

more easily and certainly if we arouse their interest by means 
of positive, concrete occupation than by loud and frequent ad- 
monitions to attention and by reproving and punishing inatten- 
tion. And the habit of industry is not achieved by scolding and 
punishing indolence, but by daily furnishing the pupils positive, 
concrete material on v^hich they can satisfy their intellectual 
functional impulse in a pleasing manner. The principle which 
we have proposed for external discipline, that prevention is 
better than punishment, likewise applies here. 

And we note the same characteristic in our ethical and social 
problems. We can develop characters and inspire them with 
the social spirit, not by means of instituting a powerful system 
of restraint, but by arousing the dormant vital energies of the 
pupils. No phillippic against egoism will even begin to make 
the impression, which the reference to the contrivances em- 
ployed daily, which can only come into being and discharge their 
function by continuous and by organized cooperation, arouses. 

Hence just as it is far more important in language teaching 
that the correct expression be heard frequently, than that the 
false expression be warned against, so our whole energy must 
be characterized far more by the positive than by the critical 
spirit. This, as a matter of course, requires a certain amount 
of healthy optimism, which to say the least is rather rare these 
days. The acquisition of vast stores of knowledge and the 
constant contact with the rising generation is well adapted how- 
ever to safeguard a man against the cold and listless pessimism 
so prevalent at present, which accredits nothing. Whilst we 
transmit the achievements of the human mind to youth we have 
constant occasion to rejoice at what has been accomplished, and 
the vast problems which still await scientific investigation, fur- 
nish youth the assurance that the past has still left it enough 
to conquer. 

This optimism which so readily combines with the tendency 
towards the positive will likewise furnish us power to realize 
the second requirement which is so characteristic of our vocation. 
I refer to the consummation of difficult syntheses. Through- 
out the foregoing discussions I have frequently referred to the 
necessity of such syntheses and I should here like to show that 
the tendencies which thus require reconciliation not only do 
not restrain, but must rather even mutually advance each other, 



Ethical and Social Problems 241 

if we stick to the positive and concrete method. 

Right at the beginning we insisted on the synthesis of science 
and pedagogy. If the new teacher has really acquired an 
abundance of positive knowledge at the university, he con- 
sequently feels the need of putting it to use. He finds appre- 
ciative auditors in the pupils, who eagerly appropriate what is 
offered them. On the other hand the preparation for his lessons 
require him to fill out all manner of gaps, and the more thor- 
oughly he does this so much the more rapidly will he increase 
in knowledge and his teaching be correspondingly more effec- 
tive. The synthesis constantly grows easier and more complete, 
since the increased knowledge improves the teaching and the 
thorough teaching enriches knowledge. 

I have clearly shown that the official character of the teach- 
er's activity is calculated not only to restrain, but likewise to 
enrich him subjectively. And I at the same time proved, that 
even the most difficult of all syntheses, that of the public official 
and of the teacher is facilitated by the tendency towards the 
positive and that here likewise both functions are calculated to 
foster each other. 

We have insisted on the many-sidedness and thoroughness of 
the teacher's scientific training. And this combination comes to 
pass well nigh automatically by adhering to the positive tend- 
ency. If we practice thorough preparation from the start, if we 
have made it a matter of course that not even the slightest detail 
of the subject-matter of the lesson we are preparing dare 
remain obscure, that we refuse absolutely to allow any uncer- 
tainty, this thoroughness will then necessarily fuse with no small 
degree of many-sidedness. And we have to cover the most 
varied phases of our department in succession and frequently 
even contemporaneously in school, which requires us in fact to 
be at home in many fields. And in addition to this it quite 
frequently happens that we must likewise reach out into neigh- 
boring departments in the course of our instruction which impels 
us to master the fundamentals even in these fields. In this way 
therefore the conscientious effort for thoroughness has naturally 
protected us against a narrow confinement to a small depart- 
ment of knowledge, enriched our knowledge, enlarged our 
horizon and advanced our many-sidedness. That is to say that 
here also there is no restraint, but a reciprocal fostering of ap- 



242 Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

parent antitheses. 

In connection with our ethical and social problems we have 
taken special care to show that personal duty and personal dig- 
nity, that the social spirit and the development of personality 
mutually foster one another and that each of them produces its 
proper effect only through the synthesis of both these principles. 

Our exposition should reveal the fact that the problems of 
the secondary teacher are vast and difficult, but not therefore 
unsolvable. It should likewise become clear that our pedagogic 
task is entirely unique, differing essentially from that of the 
public school teacher on the one hand and the university pro- 
fessor on the other. I have also tried to prove that the dis- 
charge of our duties must not be a matter of blind subservience, 
but our own spontaneous, deliberate act. Only as we grasp 
our problems in all their breadth and depth, only as we devote 
our whole ability to our work, will we be in position to at 
least approach this high ideal. And the reward for all this 
labor and care is nothing less than the personal sense of satisfac- 
tion together with, as v/e grow older, perhaps the appreciative 
attachment of former pupils. 

I know that my conception of our vocation will receive a 
criticism with which there is generally combined a dose of 
depreciation. I will be disparagingly pronounced an idealist. 
And I reply: accipio omen, I am proud of it, if I deserve this 
title. Only I conceive idealism and ideals in a slightly different 
way from what is customary at present. The essential nature 
of an ideal does not consist, as a former Austrian statesman has 
said, in the fact that it is never attained. The characteristic 
and effective feature of an ideal lies in the fact that it inspires 
the desire to approach it, that it excites the imagination and 
spurs the will. " A noble example inspires emulation and fur- 
nishes judgment with higher principles." This is not an empty 
phrase, but a truth surcharged with seriousness and profound 
meaning. 

Kein Augustisch Alter bliihte, 

Keines Medicaers Giite 

Lachelte des Lehrers Kunst; 

Sie wird nicht gepflegt von Ruhme, 

Sie entfalted ihre Blume 

Nicht im Strahl der Fiirstengunst, 

Riihmend darfs der Lehrer sagen, 



Ethical and Social Problems 243 

Hoher darf das Herz ihm schlagen, 
Selbst erschafft er sich den Wert. 

Only as we ourselves create our value subjectively shall we 
likewise attain the objective appreciation which our profession 
deserves. And with this appreciation moreover our social po- 
sition must inevitably rise and our economic condition improve. 
Hence idealism is still not such an impractical thing as people 
generally think. 

The practical Englishman says : " Time is money." We im- 
practical idealists must invert this adage. For us, money would 
be time. An adequate subsistence would relieve many of us 
of the pitiable necessity of seeking outside employment which 
not only robs us of time that might well be utilized in self- 
improvement and independent scientific investigation, but un- 
fortunately likewise frequently diminishes our respect and dig- 
nity. Oscar Jaeger accordingly offers the new teacher the fol- 
lowing advice which is at once as charming as it is wise and 
penetrating : " First of all have ten thousand dollars." The 
man of experience and character knows only too well that 
economic independence constitutes a wonderfully important con- 
dition for the respect of our profession. 

We see therefore that the idealistic conception of our vo- 
cation is consistent with the tendency towards the positive, the 
concrete and leads to very real, tangible results. Let us take 
fresh courage and bright hope from this fact. Let us con- 
stantly be more thoroughly convinced of the fact, that insight 
into the wonderfully important social function of the second- 
ary school and in the resulting real and concrete problems of 
the secondary school, will likewise furnish us the energy to ful- 
fill the exalted requirements which we must impose upon our- 
selves. Complete devotion to the vast social problem will auto- 
matically furnish us opportunity for personal invigoration, to 
develop self-sufficient personalities, which then likewise possess 
the capacity of influencing youth. And in this way moreover 
we effect in ourselves the exceedingly difficult synthesis of in- 
dividualism and socialism. While working on ourselves and 
for ourselves we are likewise doing splendid service for the 
social body of which we are members. We may then perhaps 
succeed in quickening in our pupils, whom we are anxious to 
develop to personal duty and personal dignity, the germs which 



244' Problems of the Secondary Teacher 

will eventually enable them likewise to work at this great 
synthesis on their own part. In this way moreover we con- 
tribute in a twofold sense to the solution of the most important 
problem. of the civilization of the twentieth century. 



INDEX — TOPICS 



Achilles, as scorning lying, 198 
Aestheticism, modern, 194., 209 
Aesthetic training, the oldest and 
most constant element in gen- 
eral education, 32, 34, 68 
as the unfolding of the funda- 
mental function of feeling, 
69 
by means of philology, 69, 83, 

90, 208 
and inner freedom, 208 f. 
according to Schiller, 49, 208 
Alcohol, total abstinence, 225 
Ancient languages, as means of 
discipline (Wolf), 56, 83 
Scientific problem of the teach- 
ers of, 102 
Antiquities, 55 
Antiquity, classical, as ideal and 

unity, 104 
Anthropology, 87 
Antigone of Sophocles, 216, 237 
Apology of Plato, 97, 177, 217 
Art, 68, 208 

Austrian secondary school, 34 
Attention, 137, 240 
Attitude towards pupils, 195 if. 
Authority of the teacher, 144 
intellectual, 148 ff. 
moral, 150, 156 

transferred from the teacher to 
impersonal science, 153, 182 

Backbone, spiritual, 9, 15 f. 
Believer, the, and authority, 144, 

148 
Bible, knowledge of, 99 
Biology, 87 
Biological conception of general 

education, 41 
Botany, 87 
Brain, psychology of, 81 



Branches, Inspirational and dis- 
ciplinary, 85 f. 

Callicles, 97, 168 f. 

Categorical imperative, 92, 170 

Century, the, of the child, 174 f. 

Character, training In, 162, 163, 
200, 212 

Chemistry as subject of Instruc- 
tion, 80, 85 

Children and parents of to-day, 
194 

Child, the, and the primary ego, 
205 

Christianity, 169, 172 

Church, the, 169 

Class, public sentiment of the, 
i8of, 185, 213 

Coercion in teaching, 127, 139, 143 

Concentration on anticipated Im- 
pression, 137 
training to prolonged, 138 f. 

Conscience, social, 165 
personal, 170, 210 f. 

Conservation of total-will, 166 

Constant element In general edu- 
cation, 31, 34 

Constitutional history In lower 
classes, 135 f 

Conundrums, 133 

Commands, 159, 182 

Comradeship and character, 213 

Development of Intellectual 

functions, 85 
Dialectic, as element of trivlum, 

37 
Didactics and method, highly es- 
teemed by elementary teach- 
ers, spurned by gymnasial 
teachers, 8 
experimental, 42 



245 



246 



Index — Topics 



Difficult and impossible, differ- 
ent things, 20 f, 123 

Dispositions, psychical, 61 

Discipline, cases of, and their 
discussion, 213 

Division of labor, its cultural 
significance, 167 

Double aspect of social pheno- 
mena, 22, 166 

Duty, 166 

Education, more than knowledge, 
28 f. 
as organic development, 41 
to humanity (Herder), 45 f. 
formal, 53, 57 
from within, 41 f, 53, 67 
scientific, 66, 72 f, 80 ff. 
aesthetic, 32, 34, 68, 72 f . 
social-ethical, 70 
religious, 73 
philosophical, 75 
Educational ideal of neohuman- 

ism, 41 ff, 92 f . 
Educational value of ancient 

languages, loi f, 106 f . 
Ego, the, as unity, 39 f . 

the primary and secondary, 
204 ff. 
Egoism, antisocial, 194 f. 
natural, of child, 205 f. 
Elective courses, 86 
Elementary mathematics in the 

university, 118 f. 
Encyclopedia as summary of 

valuable knowledge, 36, 39 
Encyclopedic conception of gen- 
eral education, 29, 3 5-41 > 5^, 
80 
Enmity, on part of teacher, 221 
Enthusiasm, pedagogic, in the 
1 8th century, 8 
as aim in history teaching, 89 
Eros, the philosophical, 76, 95 f. 
Ethics, authority in, 144 
the study of, 164 
as separate branch of study, 

214 f. 
social nature of, 165 



Evolution, aids to, 59 
training as, 92 

doctrine of as basis of psychol- 
ogy, 117 f. 
and training, 174 f . 
Evolution stages of conscious- 
ness, 62 f . 
Examinations, 97 f, 227 f. 
Experience analysed by science, 

64, 66 
Experimenting, didactics of in 

physics, 119 
Expansion of desire, 69 f, i6i, 204 

Faust, Goethe's, 39 

Failures of pupils, must be psy- 
chologically understood, 239 

Fear and authority, 144 

Feeling as fundamental function 
of consciousness, 62, 66 
and desire as substructure, 71 f, 

157 

and self-preservation, 67 
Functions, bodily, 59 ff. 

mental, 59, 61 
Functional demands, 67 

of intellect, 128 f. 

for exercise, 167 f 

General education, various in- 
terpretations of, 41, 81 f. 
as aim of secondary school, 27, 

.77 . 
historico-critical analysis, 28-59 
constructive synthesis, 59-78 
as social obligation, 33 
in the Protagoras, 32 
its constant elements, 30 f, 34 
Geography, 88, 121 
Geology, 88, 179 
Geometry, 36 f. 

German, inner relation to the 
Greek spirit, 55 
language as subject of instruc- 
tion, 107 f. 
Germanist, the, and instruction in 
style, 109 f. 
should know the ancient lan- 
guages, 108 f . 



Index — Topics 



247 



Gorgias (Plato's), 96 f. 
Grammar, as part of trivium, 
36 f. 
and meter in advanced classes, 
136 
Greek, 32-36 

according to Herder, 46 
according to W. v. Humboldt, 

. 53f. 

influence of in the Renais- 
sance, 169 f. 
their ethical requirements, 176 f. 
Gymnasium, Neohumanistic, lo, 
52, 55 f- 

Habituation to work as regulat- 
ing desire, 77 
as principle of instruction, 140- 

144 
as ethical problem, 161, 178 
Harmony, preestablished, 42 f. 
Heroic, the, in children, 197, 

203 
History, economic conception of, 
114 
with philology, 88 f, 109 f. 
ancient, 89 

as subject of instruction, no 
meaning of, in 
as fact and science of civiliza- 
tion, 12 
significance of psychology for, 
112 ff. 
Historian, the, and the present, 

112 f. 
Historic sense, no 
Home study, 142 
Honor, sense of, 197, 209 f. 
Humanism, 30 f, 37, 170 
Humanity, according to Herder, 

45 
according to W. v. Humbolt, 

50 f. 
Hypnotism, 145 



Ideal, a new moral, 170 
the nature of the, 243 
"Ideal and life" (Schiller), 109, 



207 f . 
Idealized antiquity as source of 

power, 55 f. 
Illumination, the, 170 
Imperative character of the so- 
cial, 33. 35 
Inattentiveness of pupils, 138 f. 
Independence, intellectual, 79, 
122 f, 151, 152 f. 
of teacher, 222 
Indifference of pupils, 152 
Individual, the independent, 
i66f. 
origin of the, 167 f. 
the, in conflict with society, 

168 f, 198 f. 
subjection of, to the social will, 
166 
Individualism, 92 f. 
excess of, 171, 197 
and socialism, 175 
Industry of the pupils as socially 

valuable, 220 
Inner freedom, 68, 192, 206 
Inspirational branches, 85 f, 87, 

143 
the teachers of, 89 
Instruments of thought, scientific, 

64, 79 

mathematical, 65, 86 

physical, 65, 86 

philosophical, 76 
Intellect, the, as tertiary level in 
the evolution of knowledge, 
62 

development of, 63 

as superstructure, 70 

as instrument, 70, 137 
Intellectual functions, develop- 
ment of, 85 
Intellectualistic psychology, 71 
Interest, as feeling of pleasure, 
128 

as functional pleasure of the in- 
tellect, 67, 128 

as pedagogic principle, 87, 126- 
140 

not sufficiently appreciated in 
secondary school, 126 



248 



Index — Topics 



two meanings of the word, 131 
and attention, 137 
Interesting teacher, 129, 139 
Interpretation of sensory impres- 
sions, aim of instruction in 
sense perception, 62 f. 
Iphigenia (Goethe), 181, 199, 

216, 222 
Island, the wakeful, 146, 147 f. 

Joy, in achievement, 67 f, 128 
moral value of, 128, 209 
in the beautiful and inner free- 
dom, 68, 207 f. 
its creative power illustrated, 
134 f. 
Justice of the teacher, 159 

Knowledge function, its develop- 
ment, 64 f . 

Laokoon (Lessing), 109 

Latin and the neohumanistic gym- 
nasium, 57 
not too difficult for children of 
ten, 133 

"LIberalis," in the Middle Ages, 

37 
Lies, according to Kant, 171, 199 
temptations in public school, 

195 f, 201 
as sacrifice, 197 

as degrading to personality, 198 
as weapon of defense, 197 
Literature, modern, more import- 
ant than ancient, 108 
in psychology, 117 
Logic, as subject of instruction, 

75, "6 
examples from legal proceed- 
ings, 116 



required to preserve the worth 
of humanity, 193 
Man's duty, 165 f, 176 
rights, 170 

dignity, 165, 170, 176, 192 
Mathematics, thought instruments 
of, 6s 
and physics as introduction to 

nature, 80 
its disciplinary value, 80 
as subject of instruction, 118 
psychology of, ii8f. 
Memory material in inspirational 

branches, 87 
Method, difference of in public 
and secondary school, 124 f , 



"Nathan" (Lessing), 316 f. 
Nature as sphere of instruction, 

80 
and spirit, 80, 85 
Neohumanism, 29, 32, 42 f, ^3, 

170 
"Not norm but seed," 49 
Notes, 318 

Obedience and authority, 149 
passive and active, of pupil, 
181 f. 
" Obstacles can be overcome " as 

maxim, 21, 123 
Official character of the teacher, 

17 f. 

Onesided talent, 86 f, 130 

Onesidedness of the younger 
philologists, 103 

Order, as problem in moral train- 
ing, 179 

Organization of course of study, 
86 f. 



Man, as mankind in miniature, 

39 
the nature of (Herder), 43 
the nature of (Humboldt), 51 
the most valuable asset of the 

state, 175 



Parents as critics, 7 

and present day children, 194 
the teacher's association with 
the, 221 
Peculiarity of the pupils, 130 
Pedagogy and science, 10 f. 



Index — Topics 



249 



necessary for all teachers, 91 
training of prospective teach- 
ers in, 233 
Pedantry, 10, 179 
Personality, nature and value of, 
9, 16 f, 70, 73, 92, 163, 165, 
167 f, 173 f, 176, 192 
of the teacher, 157 f, 243 
the freedom of the strong, 168 
Philoctetus (Sophocles), 198, 216 
Philologists, the classical, and 
pedagogy, 10 
fundamental problem of, 103 
interpretation of authors, 155 f, 
239 
Philology, its historical character, 
82, 88 
classical, 57 

scientific achievements, 102 
and natural science as founda- 
tion of education, 83 
Philological seminars, 10 

instruction and aesthetic train- 
ing, 68, 83, 86, 90 
Philosophy, a personal matter, 

history of, in its significance to 

various branches, 96 f . 
and inner freedom, 206 
Philosophical training, 75, 95 
propaedeutic, 75, 116, 154, 217 
Eros, 76, 96 
Physics and mathematics, 80 

as subject of study, 119 
Physical concepts and their false 
application to psychical prob- 
lems, 8 1 
Phvsical development, 33, 60, 90 
Physiology and psychology, 81, 

"7 
Polymathy, 37, 39, 58 
Positive knowledge, 121, 123, 225, 

238 
Practical education, 63 
Praise and blame, 158 
Prescientlfic stage of thought, 

64 f. 
Probation year, i^, 14, 229, 231, 

236 f. 



Propaedeutic, philosophical, 75, 
115, i54f. 
and teaching ethics, 217 
Protestantism, 169 
Psychical dispositions, 61, 94 
Psychology, Herder's conception 
of, 43 
intellectualistic, 71 
as subject of study, 75, 117 
common problem for all teach- 
ers, 93 
importance for history, iii 
importance for mathematics, 

119 
importance for physics, 119 
importance for philology, 105 
Public sentiment and the course 
of study, 84 
in morality, 163 
of the class, 180, 183, 185, 213 
Pupils, as end, 55, 94 

free expression of sentiment, 

155, 195 
sense of justice of, 159 
interest in discussion of moral 

problems, 177 
and authority, 150 
treated as gentlemen, 195, 210 
Punctuality, 179 

Quadrivium, 36 

Reason, human, a sophist, 222 
Religion, as elementary idea, 74, 

99 
social nature of, 74 
requirement of teachers, 98 
and moral instruction, 215 
and authority, 144 

Renaissance, 30, 37, 170 

Repetition, 78 

Rhetoric in trivium, 37 

Responsibility, sense of, 79, 122, 
r6i, 182 

School, must be difficult, 218 
School discipline, 211 
on authority inadequate, 182 f, 
189 



250 



Index — Topics 



"School Community," 183, 189 
Science and pedagogy, synthesis 

of, 10, 71, 240 f. 
Secondary school defined, 28 
social function of, 6, 28, 34, 

218 
general character of, 27 
aim of, 77 f. 
course of study, 83 f. 
Secondary teacher, peculiar prob- 
lems, 9 
as investigator, 15 
as public official, 17 f. 
Selection, social problem of the 

secondary school, 218 
Self-government, student, 183 
and truthfulness, 202 
and sense of honor, 211 
Self-mastery, 203 
Sense-perception, instruction in, 

62 
Social democracy, 172 
Social function of secondary 
school, 6, 22, 150 
twofold effect of s-phenomena, 

22, 166 
personality, 16, 92, 192 
differentiation, 93, 168 
nature of morality, 165 
spirit in school, 177 
problems and inner freedom, 

206 
selection in secondary school, 
218 
Society, its demands on the edu- 
cated classes, 31, 33 f 
the state as spokesman for, 33, 

175, 218 
as factor of moral evolution, 

164 
and the individual in social- 
ism, 173 
and the teacher, 217 
Sociology, 30, 96, 178 
Solidarity, sense of, 182, 201 
Specialty of teacher, path to phi- 
losophy, 96 
Spirit, the realm of, and natural 
science, 81 



the social, 177 

relation of, to development of 

body, 206 
the critical, 239 
Spiritual functions and their de- 
velopment, 59, 78 
energies as regulative of the 

fate of men and nations, 81 
independence, 79, 122 
activity as duty, 140 
power of authority, 144 
State as author of secondary 
school, 96 
as director of society, 33, 75, 

218 
importance of in historical 

evolution, 113 
and the individual, 175 
Strengthening the will, 60, 69, 

77, 90, 161, 204 
Storm and stress, 170, 199 
Students and the teaching profeS' 

sion, 232 
Suggestion, 145 
Superficiality, 39, 86 
Sympathies and antipathies of 

teacher, 159 
Syntax on psychological basis, 105 
Synthesis of science and peda- 
gogy, 10 f, 126, 240 
of versatility and thorough- 
ness, 1 6, 240 
of official and teacher, 17, 240 
of authority and love, 158 ^ 
of individualism and socialism, 

of human duty and human dig- 
nity, 175, 242 
Systematic mode of thought, 125 

Tactfulness, 182 

Talent, onesided, 86 f, 130 

and industry, 220 
Teacher, the will to be, 16 

and the scholar, 10 

as official, 17 f. 

"interesting," i3of. 

personal sympathies and antip- 
athies of, 159 



Index — Topics 



251 



the young, and authority, 158 

and ethics, 164 

as accepted guide, 181 

as example of truthfulness, 

201 f. 
outside the school, 224 
and alcohol, 225 
and the parents, 221 
and the course of study, 219 
as the organ of social selection, 

219 f. 
dearth of, 236 
Technique of instruction, 229 
Teleology of the psychical, 61 
Test lessons, 228, 232 
Theory indispensable to practice, 

28 
Thoroughness and versatilityv 16, 

118, 121, 241 
Training builds the secondary 

ego, 20s 
Transition from pupil to teacher, 

234, 238 
Translation, 104 
Truthfulness, 195, 200 
Total will, i66 

Unity in variety, 40 
Utraquism, 85, 87 

Versatility and thoroughness, 
16, 118, 121, 241 



Will, to be a teacher, the, 16 f. 
disciplining the, through ath- 
letics, 60, 68 f. 
governing, by training to work, 

69 
expansion of, 69 
and attention, 137 
total, 166 
Work, training to, 69, 126, 140 ff, 
161, 178 
overemphasized, 143 
evaluation of, 163, 172, 177 
reward of, 172 

universal obligation to, 172 f. 
" Woe to him who lies," Grill- 

parzer, 216 
World view given by religion, 

74 
philosophy, 96 

Youth, modern, and the classi- 
cists, 136 
Restlessness and nervousness 

of modern, 162 
lacks subjective stability, 174 
and subjective freedom, 207 
Youthful sport, 60 

Zeus, as guardian of the moral 

law, 166 
Zoology, 87 



INDEX OF AUTHORS 



Adler, Felix, 214 

Aeschylus, 26, 47, 104 

Aristotle, 35, 76, 104, 157, 165, 

217 
Augustine, 36, 127 f, 143 

Bauraeister, 9, 13, 28 
Baumgarten, 97, 109 
Bernheim, 145 
Brentano, 132 
Bridgman, Laura, 21 

Cassiodorus, 37 

Cicero, 15, 36, 37, 96 

Comenius, 37 

Cornelius Nepos, 134, 159 

Democritus, 217 
Demosthenes, 13, 15, 155, 224 
Descartes, 76 

Eleatics, 76 
Ellinger, 198 
Engels, 114 
Epicurus, 206 f. 
Euripides, 54, 104 
Exner, 28 

' I 
Fichte, 40, 51, 55, 57, 97» ^99 
Foerster, 162, 163, 177, 180, 182, 

183 f, 188, 195 f, 202 f, 207, 

2IO, 212, 216 
Fries, 13 

Galileo, 97 

Garve, 128 

Goethe, 10, 17, 39, 49 f. 55, 82, 
88 f, 92, 97, 99 f, 107, 109, 
171, 178, 181 f, 216, 224 

Grillparzer, 107, 109, 216, 220 



Hall, Stanley, 95 
Hartenstein, 126 



Hegel, 40, 55, 57, 99 
Heraclitus, 39, 76, 117 
Herbart, 42, 60, 67 f, 71, 12S 
Herder, 10, 29, 38, 41, 43, 51, 57, 

58 f, 59 
Homer, 15, 32, ico, 104 f, t66, 

208 
Horace, 15, 96, 109, 162, 176 
Howe, 20 f. 
Humboldt, 29, 38, 41, 49!, 92, 

171 

James, William, 95, 145 
Jodl, 62, 75, 147, 217 

Kant, 51, 76, 92, 97, 109, 165, 

170, 196, 199, 206 
Kepler, 97 
Key, Ellen, 174 

Laas, 109 

Lamprecht, no, 112 

Lehmann, 50, 109 

Lehrs, 11, 154 

Leibnitz, 43 

Lessing, 42, 97, 99, 107, 109, 216 f. 

Lipps, 145 

Luther, 107, 199 

Mach, 71, 119, 141 
Marx, 114 
Meumann, 42 
Meyer, 113 
Moll, 145 
Morhof, 37, 40 

Nagelsbach, 100 
Newton, 97 
Nietzsche, 97, 112, 173 

Offner, 95 

Ostermann, 126, 131 
Ovid, 109 



252 



Index of Authors 



253 



Paulsen, lo, 38, 41, 42, 56, 57, 

64, 86, 93, 179 
Pestalozzi, 42, 163 
Plato, 15, 31, 47, 67, 76, 80, 96 f, 

103, i68f, 176, 178, 198, 217 
Plutarch, 35 
Piodinger, 189, 207 
Protagoras, 31 f. 

Rickert, iii f. 
Romanticists, 100 
Rousseau, 42 
Royce, 17 

Schelling, 51 f, 54, 55, 57, 97 
Schiller, 41, 49, 51, 52, 55, 68, 70, 

97, 100, 107, 109, III, 179, 

192, 206 flF. 
Schleierraacher, 97 
Schopenhauer, 71 
Scott, Colin A., 70, 142, 183, 191 
Shakespeare, 100 
Socrates, 31, 97, 169, 176, 201, 

211, 215, 217 
Sophocles, 47, 100, 103, 104, 154, 

163, 198, 208, 216, 237 



Spencer, Herbert, 173, 198, 206 
Spinoza, 76, 97 
Stein, Ludwig, 173 
Stoics, 76, 192, 217 
Sturnpf, Karl, 128 

Tacitus, 15 
Thucydides, 15, 104 

Vaihinger, 97 f . 
Vergil, 15, 109 

Westermarck, n8, 164, 165 
Wiese, n 

Wilamowitz, 55, 104 
Willmann, 37, 58, 74, 228, 235 
Winckelmann, 42, 50 
Windelband, in 
Wolf, 10 f, 38, 53, 55 
Wundt, 95, 145 

Xenophon, 156 

Ziegler, 42 
Zielinski, 35, 49, 218 



